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THE 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR: 



SCRIPTURE 



AND 

ARRJ^TGED FOU'lBITBTtY DAT IN THE YEAR. 



BY 



C.MARIdES. BUCK, 



>*-# > .*S#».*-.r>*\r*.*v#\#S*K*^.*v*V#sr*#>#'^^*N*> 



My tongue shall speak of thy word; for all thy command- 

meats are righteousness." David, 



SECOND EDITION. 



ImvSoti : 

PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR, 
By J. HADDON, Finslury. 
AND SOLD BY WILLIAMS AND SON, STATIONERS' COURT ; BAYNES £ 
HAMILTON ; GALE, CURTIS, AND FENNER; OGLE AND CO* PATER- 
NOSTER-ROW ; CONDER, BUCKLERSBLRY ; BURTON, LEADENHALL 
STREET ; AND OLIPHANT 5 WAUGH, AND INNES, EDINBURGH. 



1815. 







teste 






PREFACE. 



Amidst the various blessings with which we 
are so highly favoured, that of divine revelation 
must be considered as one of the greatest. It is 
the true light which irradiates the dark path of 
sinful men ; the faithful guide which directs them 
in the way they should go ; and the delightful 
medium through which they can behold the pros- 
pect of glory and immortality. Every thing, 
therefore, which has a tendency to recommend 
this inestimable volume, — to illustrate its excel- 
lencies, and impress its contents on the mind, cer- 
tainly deserves our notice. 

In the following pages the reader will find 
such a collection of facts as will form a practical 
exposition of a variety :f passages of scripture ; 
and confirm him in the belief of what the apostle 
has declared ; that it is profitable for doctrine, 
for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righ- 
teousuess. The biographical sketches, the nu- 
merous anecdotes, the allusions fo antients cus- 



IV PREFACE* 

toms, and the quotations from various authors, as 
they are all here laid under contribution for the 
service of truth, so it is to be hoped they will ren- 
der the work entertaining as well as instructive. 

As to judicious criticisms, and commentaries 
on the sacred Scriptures, they cannot be spoken 
of too highly ; but we all know that facts strike 
the mind with peculiar force. In the instances 
therefore here selected* we see how the Almighty 
is often the expositor of his own word by the 
displays of his providence, and the manifestations 
of his grace. Nor will this work be found un- 
suitable to put into the hands of young people, 
as it will not only afford them biographical and 
historical information for every day in the year, 
but engage them to read the holy Scriptures, and 
to consider them as they are, the word of God, 
mighty through him to illuminate the mind, direct 
the wavering, comfort the distressed, and a bene- 
fit to society at large. 

In collecting and arranging the events con- 
tained in this volume, the writer can truly say 
that he has found much profit to his own mind ; 
though it has been chiefly done in hours of 
languor and pain. That it may also be ren- 
dered useful to every reader is his most earnest , 
prayer. 



THE 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR, 



January 1. 

Psalm xc. 10. For it is soon cut off, and we fiy away. 

Such is the description given us by the sacred writer 
of human life. How well, at the commencement of 
a new year, to stand still and consider the shortness 
of time, and the vanity of ail things here. 

The ancients, says Mr. Brooks, represented time 
with wings, not running but flying. 

The Egyptians drew it with three heads ; the first 
of a greedy wolf gaping, for time past; because it 
hath ravenously devoured the memory of so many 
things past recalling. The secoiid of a crowned 
lion roaring, for time present ; because it hath the 
principality of all actions, for which it calls loud. 
The third of a deceitful dog fawning, for time to 
come ; because it feeds some men with many flatter- 
ing hopes, to their eternal destruction. 

When Popilius, by order of the Roman senate, 
required Antiochus to withdraw his army from trie 
king of Egypt, and he desired time to deliberate upon 
it, the Roman drew a circle with his wand about 
him, and said, In hoc stans delibera, give a present 
answer before you move. "Thus eternity, says Dr s 
Bates, whose proper emblem is a circle, a figure 
B 



2 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

without end, presents to us life and death, that after 
a short time expects all men ; and here we must 
make our choice. And shall a mortal coldness 
possess us in an affair of such importance? We 
cannot so fast repair the ruins of the body, but that 
every day death makes nearer approaches, and takes 
away some spoils that cannot be recovered, and will 
shortly force the soul to leave its habitation ; and 
shall we not secure a retreat for it in the sanctuary 
of life and immortality V 



January 2. 

Isaiah i. 17. Seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge 
the fatherless, plead for the widow. 

Lavater died at Zurich, 1801, in the 60th year 
of his age.— The following account of the spirited 
and benevolent conduct of this excellent man is a 
fine practical exposition of the above passage. There 
lived in the city of Zurich, and even a member of 
its senate, a most wretched character, who during 
the time he had been prefect over a district of the 
canton, had committed innumerable acts of the 
grossest injustice; yea, such abominable crimes, that 
all the country people loudly reproached and cursed 
him ; but no one dared to call him to public account, 
he being related to several gentlemen who were mem- 
bers of the Zurich government, and son-in-law to the 
principal magistrate of the city. Mr. Lavater, after 
having often heard of and duly examined into the 
atrocities of the prefect, committed even against 
helpless widows and orphans, could at last no longer 
refrain himself. His tender feeling heart was glowing 
with the noblest sentiments of justice and humanity, 
and felt an irresistible desire to plead the cause of 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. S 

the poor and oppressed. Being only twenty one 
years of age, and knowing the connection of the cul- 
prit, he was fully aware that his stepping forward in 
this cause would expose him to the frowns of the 
great and mighty, and occasion much uneasiness and 
anxiety even to his nearest and dearest relations ; 
but he was determined to obey God rather than man. 
Having prepared himself by earnest prayer, and con- 
sulted an intimate friend, he first addressed a letter 
to the prefect, in which he strongly reproached him 
for his detestable actions, and freely declared his full 
intention to bring him to public justice, should he 
not restore his spoil within the term of two months. 
This term having elapsed, and the warning proving 
in vain, Mr. Lavater proceeded to print a most solemn 
indictment against him, which he caused to be de- 
livered to every member of the Zurich government. 
At first he kept his name a secret, but when called 
upon, he came forward in the most open manner, 
nobly avowed, and fully proved the points of his in- 
dictment before the whole assembly of the senate; 
and had the unspeakable satisfaction to see the 
wicked prefect, who, conscious of his guilt, had 
saved himself by flight, solemnly condemned by law, 
his unjust property confiscated, and restoration made 
to the triumphant cause of oppressed poverty and 
innocence ! 



January 3. 

Matt. xi. 28. Come unto me, all ye that labour and are 
heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 

Cicero, one of the greatest orators, statesmen, 

and philosophers of antiquity, was born, B. C. 107. 

His eloquence was undoubtedly great, and his book 

of offices has been admired bv ail succeeding ages 

B 2 



4 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

as the most perfect system of heathen morality. It 
is to be feared, however, that more attention has been 
paid to his works by some than to the sacred volume. 
Abp. Leighton, therefore, in his theological lectures, 
gives this advice to his pupils, " I exhort and beseech 
you never to suffer so much as one day to pass, with- 
out reading some part of the sacred records. It is 
not possible to express how much sweeter you will 
find the inspired writings than Cicero, Demosthenes, 
Homer, Aristotle, and all the other orators, poets, 
and philosophers. They reason about an imaginary 
felicity, and every one in his own way advances some 
precarious and uncertain thoughts upon it : but this 
book alone shows clearly, and with absolute certainty 
what it is, and points out the way that leads to the 
attainment of it." This is that which prevailed with 
St. Augustine to study the Scriptures, and engaged 
his affection to them. "In Cicero and Plato, and 
other such writers (says he)* I meet with many things 
wittily said, and things that have a moderate tendency 
to move the passions; but in none of them do I find 
these words, ' Come unto me, all ye that labour and 
are heavy laden, and I will give you restV 



January 4. 

Job xxxvi. 22. Who teacbeth like him ! 

The famous Ascham died 1568. The loss of a 
valuable instructor is a matter of great grief. Ascham 
had been tutor in the learned languages to Queen 
Elizabeth, who so much lamented his death, that she 
declared she would rather have lost ten thousaud 
pounds than her tutor Ascham. Christian rejoice; 
thy Great Teacher never dies ; nor shall the know- 
ledge he communicates ever be lost ! 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR; 5 

Antisthenes taught rhetoric, and had among his 
pupils Diogenes; but when he had heard Socrates, 
he shut up his school, and told his pupils, " Go seek 
for yourselves a master, I have found e&e" Thus all 
who are convinced of their ignorance, will renounce 
every thing that would prevent them from sitting at 
the feet of Christ to learn of him. 

Philip wrote to Aristotle thus, "I inform you I 
have a son, I thank the gods, not so much for making 
me a father, as for giving me a son in an age when 
he can have an Aristotle for his instructor." How 
much more may the Christian feel grateful, not only 
that God has given him life and rational faculties, 
but that he has Christ for his teacher, for, Who 
teacheth like him ? 



January 5. 

Eccles. v. 11. When goods increase, they are increased that 
eat them; and what good is there to the owners thereof, 
saving the beholding of them with their eyes ? 

Aglaus, the poorest man in Arcadia, was pro- 
nounced by the oracle more happy than Gyges king 
of Lydia* It has been observed, that a very interest- 
ing essay might be written on the unhappiness of 
those who are surrounded with every earthly good ; 
and from whom Providence seems to have removed 

all the causes of unhappiness. Mr. T. B k was 

considered as one of the most accomplished men of 
his age ; of exquisite taste, perfect good breeding, 
and unblemished integrity and honour. Undisturbed 
too by ambition or political animosities, and at his 
ease with regard to fortune, he appeared to be placed 
at the very summit of human felicity. This happy 
man, so universally acceptable, and with such re- 
B 3 



6 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

sources in himself, was devoured by ennui; and pro 
bably envied with good reason, the condition of one 
half of those laborious and discontented beings, who 
looked up to him with envy and admiration. He 
was querulous, indifferent, and internally contemptu- 
ous to the greater part of the world ; and like many 
other accomplished persons, upon whom the want of 
employment has imposed the heavy task of self- 
occupation, he passed his life in a languid and un- 
satisfactory manner; absorbed sometimes in play 
and sometimes in study ; and seeking in vain the 
wholesome exercise of a strong mind, in desultory 
reading or contemptible dissipation. 

"My Lady, I'd give all the world if I were in the 
state of that beggar/'' said a nobleman once, when a 
poor beggar put up his palsied hand to the carriage 
for something. He soon after destroyed himself. 

A gentleman of vast fortune sent for a friend to 
settle some affairs ; and while they were together, lie 
walked to the window and observed a chimney- 
sweeper's boy with his brass plate and sack passing 
by. His friend was surprised to see the tears burst 
from his eyes, and clasping his hands, with an oath 
he exclaimed, " Now would I give every shilling I 
am worth in the world (he had ten thousand pounds 
a year) to change beings with that little sweep." 
And well perhaps he might, if he could have been 
as happy as another little sweep was, who while 
ascending a chimney was heard to sing, 

The sorrows of the mind, 
Be banished from the place, 
Religion never was design'd 
To make our pleasures less* 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 



January 6. 

Matthew ii. 11. And when the wise men had opened their 
treasures, they presented unto him gifts, gold, and frank- 
incense, and myrrh. 

A festival called the Epiphany, which signifies 
" an appearance of light, a manifestation," is kept on 
the 6th of January, to celebrate the manifestation of 
Christ to the Gentiles, and especially to the magi 
above mentioned. His Majesty offers annually by 
proxy at the chapel royal, St. James's, gold, frank- 
incense and myrrh. 

In the eastern nations, when they did homage to 
their kings, they made them a present. Thus the 
subjection of the kings of Sheba to Christ is spoken 
of, Psalm lxxii. 10. What the wise men presented, 
were intended by Providence as a seasonable relief 
to Joseph and Mary in their poor condition. These, 
says Mr. Henry, were the products of their own 
country. What God favours us with, we must 
honour him with. Happy are they who are enabled 
not only to give their substance, but themselves to 
him. 



January 7. 






Romans viii. 35. Who shall separate us from the Jove of 

Christ ? 
Psalm xxxi. 5. Into thine hand I commit my spirit. 

The Rev. James Andreas, a famous Lutheran 
divine, died 1528, aged €2. When he found death 
drawing near, he made a declaration to several of 
his friends concerning his constancy in the faith 
which he had preached, and published for forty-four 
years. When his physician inquired of him how he 
B 4 



8 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

found himself, he answered, " By nothing separated 
from God." Soon afterwards hearing the clock 
strike, he asked what hour it was ? and upon being 
told it was six, he added, " My hour shall soon 
draw near." He used tnanv edifying expressions to 
those about him, and declared great thankfulness to 
his gracious God and Saviour for his manifold mercies 
to his body and soul. At length he breathed out his 
soul with this sentence, Into thy hands, O Lord, I 
commend my spirit ! The following character is 
given him by Melchior Adam. "He was (says this 
author) an excellent preacher, had an easy manner of 
instructing the people ; and delivered the most ob- 
scure points in such a perspicuous style, that they 
were understood by the generality of the audience. 
When he exhorted them to the reformation of their 
lives, or remonstrated against sin, he made use of 
great energy of language and elevation of voice, being 
extremely well qualified both by nature and art for 
moving the passions. And when there was occasion 
for it, his eloquence was forcible like thunder, and 
he spoke with such vehemence, that he would perspire 
even in the midst of winter. In executing the several 
tranches of his duty, he spared no labour, and was 
deterred by no fatigue. He was perpetually engaged 
in composing some work or other, or writing letters 
upon various subjects to persons of all ranks who 
consulted him. These things he dispatched with 
admirable quickness and success. There was hardly 
a day passed but he gave advice to several persons ; 
being always ready to gratify those who solicited his 
assistance. He was in great favour with some princes 
and men of the highest rank ; his conversation being 
very agreeable and facetious. He had a warm zeal 
for the religion which he professed, and was extremely 
sorry whenever he heard that any person had aban* 
doned it." 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 



January 8. 

John v. 40. And ye will not come to me that ye might have 
life. 

Galileo, a most eminent philosopher, died 1564. 
He invented, or at least improved, the telescope, so 
as to make it fit for astronomical observations. Great 
prejudice however was entertained against him ; and 
it is said there was a philosopher at Florence who 
could not be persuaded to look through one of 
Galileo's telescopes, lest he should see something in 
the heavens that would disturb him in his belief of 
Aristotle's philosophy. Thus it is with many ; they 
are afraid of examining God's word, lest they should 
find themselves condemned. 



January 9. 

Romans viii. 37. Nay, in all these things we are more than 
conquerors through him that loved us. 

Lop.d Nklson's funeral, 1806. His Lordship 
was buried at St. Paul's ; and his funeral was one of 
the most splendid ever witnessed in this country. 
He gained rhe victory over his enemies, but he lost 
his own life. Let us pass from this melancholy event 
to consider the felicity of the christian warrior. 

" In our patient bearing of the trials allotted to 
us/' says one, " we are not only conquerors, but more 
than conquerors, that is, triumphers. Those are more 
than conquerors that conquer with little loss. Many 
conquests are dear bought ; but what do the suffering 
saints lose? Why they lose that which the gold loses 
in the furnace, nothing but the dross. It is no great 
loss to lose things which are not; a body that is of 
the earth, earthy. 

B 5 



10 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

Those arc more than conquerors who conquer 
with great gain. The spoils are exceedingly rich ; 
giory, honour, and peace, a crown of righteousness 
that fadeth not away. In this the suffering saints 
have triumphed ; not only have not been separated 
from the i«>ve of Christ, but have been taken into the 
most sensible endearments and embraces of it. As 
afflictions abound, consolations much more abound. 

There is one more than a conqueror, when pressed 
above measure. He that embraced the stake, and 
said, Welcome the cross of Christ, welcome everlast- 
ing life : he that dated his letter from the delectable 
orchard <>f the Leonine prison : he that said, In these 
flames I feel no more pain than if 1 were upon a bed 
of down ; she that a little before her martyrdom, 
being asked how she did, said, Well and merry, and 
going to heaven : those that have gone smiling to the 
stake, and stood sinking in the flames; these were 
more tiiaa conquerors." — Dr. Evans. 



January 10. 

Deut. xxxii. 47. For it is not a vain thing for you, for it is 
your life. 

The Rev. Cornelius Winter, of Painswick, 
died 1808. He was a man of the most unblemished 
reputation, exemplary piety, benevolence and tender- 
ness. To him religion was not a vain thing. He 
found it his greatest support under all his afflictions. 

When a medical man attended him, and saw how 
resigned he was under a fracture, he said, " I always 
thought before, that religion was only something to 
talk about; but now (though unfortunately I have 
no religion myself) I see it is a fact." 

Thus we see so far from religion being a vain 
thing, it produces such happy effects, as even to 
astonish and convince ignorant bystanders. 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR, 11 



January 11. 

Psalm Ixvi. 13, Come and hear all ye that fear Goti, and 
I will declare what he hath done for ray soul. 

The Rev. George Tross died, 1713, aged 81 
years. He was in danger of being starved at nurse; 
and in his advanced age was much affected with this 
early deiiverance. He was well furnished for minis- 
terial service. His apprehension was quick, his in- 
vention rich, his judgment solid, and his memory 
tenacious. He read over the Bible in English, Latin, 
Greek, Hebrew, and French, several times. He 
preached funeral sermons for no less than fourteen of 
his brethren in the ministry. He laid aside the tenth 
part of all his income for chaihable purposes. A 
little before his death, his friends expostulated with 
him for preaching under such weakness as he had 
done. He replied, " It becomes a minister to die 
preaching." He left the following account of him- 
self. " Till I was four or five and twenty years old, 
I lived in a course of sin and folly, which I experi- 
enced to be base, unreasonable, and destructive to 
health, estate, name, rest, and reason, leading to 
honor, despair, rage, and hell. Ever since, for 
mauy years, I have kept on steadily in the ways of 
holiness, and found them blessed, honourable, and 
comfortable, both with respect to body and soul, and 
to all outward and inward concerns. 1 can say, that 
godliness has the promise of this life and that which 
is to come; and must declare that I never heard b# 
read of any one so ahnightily saved from sin and hell, 
and so wcnderfuilv blessed with all favour and mer- 
cies, as I have been." He was buried at Exeter, the 
place of his nativity. 



B 6 



12 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR " 

January 12. 

Amos vi. 9. I will darken the earth in a clear day. 

There was extreme darkness at noon in England, 
Jan. 12, 1679. How easily can the Almighty de- 
prive us of the common blessings of life. How scan 
can he punish his enemies by inflicting the most 
dreadful judgments, and turning all their blessings 
into a curse. But bow were the above words fuffilled 
in the darkness that attended our Saviour's cruci- 
fixion. Thick darkness covered the laud, and some 
think the whole earth for three hours, from noon till 
three o'clock. The Jews, as one observes, had often 
demanded a sign from heaven, and now they had 
one, but such an one as signified the blinding their 
eyes. It was a sign of the darkness that was come 
and was coming upon the Jewish nation. They were 
doing their utmost to extinguish the Sun of Righte- 
ousness, which was now setting, and what then might 
be expected among them but a worse than Egyptian 
darkness. 



January 13. 

John vi. 27. Labour not for the meat that perishetb. 
Luke x. 42. Mary hath chosen the good part. 

Monasteries were suppressed in France, 1790, 
However useful these institutions were as the pre- 
servers of learning; it must be owned that they were 
too often the haunts of ignorance and superstition. 
In that, however, where Sylvan us was abbot, there 
seemed an exception. The following will afford us 
an instance of a practical exposition of the above 
texts in rather an unusual way. 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. is 

A certain brother came to the convent at Mount 
Sinai, and finding all the monks at work, shook his 
head and said to the abbot, "Labour not for the 
meat that perisheth; — and — Mary hath chosen the 
good part." " Very well," said the abbot, and 
ordered the good brother to a cell, and gave him a 
book to read. The monk retired, and sat, hour after 
hour, all the day long alone; wondering much that 
nobody called him to dinner, or offered him any re- 
freshment. Hungry and wearied out, the night at 
length arrived : he left his solitary cell, and repaired 
to the apartment of the abbot. " Father/' says he, 
" don't the brethren eat to-day %" " O yes," re- 
plied the abbct, " they have eaten plentifully." 
"Then, how is it, Father," said the monk, "that 
you did not call me to partake with them V " Be- 
cause, brother," replied the abbot, " you are a 
spiritual man, and have no need of carnal food. 
For our parts we are obliged to eat, and on that 
account we work : but you, brother, who have chosen 
the good part, you sit and read all the day long, and 
are above the want of the meat that perisheth." 
" Pardon me, father," said the monk, "I perceive 
my mistake." 



January 14. 

James iv. 14. What is your life, it is even a vapour. 

Bishop Berk ely died, 1753. As he was sitting 
in the midst of his family, and just after he had con- 
cluded a comment on the 15th chapter of 1 Corin- 
thians, he instantly expired without a groan. When 
he was consecrated Bishop of Cloyne, he said to his 
few intimates, " I will never accept of a new trans- 
lation." And it appears he kept his word, for when 



14 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

the See of Clogber, of more than double the value 
of Cloyne was offered to him, he declined the ge- 
nerous offer; requesting the Lord Lieutenant not to 
think of him on any other vacancy. How few are to 
be found so truly disinterested as *his illustrious 
bishop. Happy they who, when called away by 
sudden death, are made meet for a better state. 



January 15. 

Luke x. 29. And who is my neighbour? 

The HiBEENiAN Society established, 1800, 
Amidst all the exertions which have been made with- 
in a few years, for the dissemination of knowledge, 
and the principles of divine truth, we must reflect 
with peculiar satisfaction on »he formation of this 
society. Whoever has considered the ignorant, 
wretched, and awful state of Ireland, must be con- 
strained to confess that nothing was more necessary. 
Let the return of this day therefore remind the reader 
of ihe importance of this great object, and e\cite him 
earnestly to pray and exert himself for its welfare. 

According to the last report (1814) the to'al 
number of children who, according to their capac ty, 
have fiee access to the fountain of christian know- 
ledge, bv means of the Hibernian Society, is not less 
than 8342. 

That there is absolute necessity for instructing, 
not only chikhen but adults is evident from many 
circumstances we could here relate. The following 
one must suffice : 

" I conversed (said Mr. — - — ) with a young man 
I met with, who was a Catholic, and had learned his 
catechism; but eould iv t t' II me who was Jesus 
Christ, why he came into the world, or where he now 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 15 

is ? Alas ! this poor young man is not singular in 
his ignorance. I have met with many, very many, 
who make conscience of all the commands of the 
priests, equally in gross darkness. I took all the 
pains in my power to instruct this youth. He listened 
with great attention, and received with thankfulness 
the Introduction to Reading which I gave him, and 
regretted much that it was not in my power to give 
him a Testament. On my return, the next day, I 
saw this person at some distance from me in the field. 
He approached, and most cordially saluted me ; tell- 
ing me he had great delight in the book I gave him, 
and praying God to bless me." 

Let us then take shame to ourselves, that we have 
so long neglected this our neighbour, and imitate 
him who shews compassion on the ignorant and those 
who are out of the way. 



January 16. 

Job xxi. 32. Yet shall he be brought to the grave, and shall 
remain in the tomb. 

Charles V. resigned his crown, 1556. 

It must be a mortifying reflection to those who 
place all their happiness in the present worid, when 
they consider that in a short time they mast be dis- 
possessed of all, and descend to the grave. And the 
greater their pleasures, the more splendid their re- 
tinue, and the more numerous their earthly enjoy- 
ments have been, the more wretched must they feel 
in being called to part with all. So that, in this 
aspect, tie death of the poor peasant is far more 
tranquil and easy than that of the mo>t prosperous 
and wealthy personage in the universe. It was 
probably a sense of this which caused the Emperor 



16 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

Charles V. on this day to resign his crown, reserving 
nothing to himself but an annual pension of 100,000 
crowns. When the Duke of Venice shewed him the 
treasury of St. Mark, and the glory of his princely 
palace, instead of admiring them, the emperor said, 
" These are the things that make men so loath to' 
die." How happy they whose treasure is in heaven ; 
whose inheritance is on high; who are detached 
from this world ; whose sins are all forgiven ; and 
who are rejoicing in hope of the glory of God. Such 
can reverse the language, and say, " These are the 
things that make us willing to die." Come, Lord 
Jesus, come quickly. Even so, Lord Jesus. Amen. 



January 17. 

Phil, ii. 14. Do all things without murmurings and dis- 
putings. 

Bishop Horne died, 1792. On the Friday 
before the Bishop's death, he asked on what day 
of the week the 17th day of the month would fall] 
When he was answered, on Tuesday, " Make a note 
of that," said he, "in a book." This proved to be 
the day on which he died. The bishop was a great 
enemy to disputations. He remarks, that many 
persons spend so much time in disputing about the 
gospel, that they leave none for practising it; and he 
displays the folly of this conduct by the following 
anecdote. Two learned physicians and a plain 
honest countryman, happening to meet at an inn, sat 
down to dinner together. A dispute presently arose 
between the two doctors on the nature of aliment, 
which proceeded to such a height, that it spoiled 
their meal, and they parted extremely indisposed. 
The countryman in the mean time, who understood 
not the cause, though he heard the quarrel, fell 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 17 

heartily to his meal, gave God thanks, digested it 
well, returned in the strength of it to his labour, and 
in the evening received his wages. 



January 18. 

Matt. xiv. 23. He went up into a mountain apart to pray ? 
and when the evening was come, he was there alone. 

The Rev. William Bromley Cadocan died, 
1797, aged 46. He aimed at usefulness, not ap- 
plause, and he had the happiness to find that he did 
not labour in vain ; for few persons in the present 
day, for the space of time he preached, have been 
more blessed to the conversion of young and old, 
rich and poor. He was a remarkable early riser, 
being mostly in his study by six o'clock, even in 
winter. What time he spent in secret prayer is only 
known to his own soul. It is supposed, however, 
that he was much engaged in this duty. For when 
he had company, he would often retire from them 
to his study ; and there, when most of the family 
were gone to rest, he has been frequently surprised 
on his knees by the domestic who usually took charge 
of the house. Let the ministers of the gospel learn 
to imitate this good man; the way to be useful in 
public is to be much with God in private. 



January 19. 

Ephes. i. 4. The prisoner of the Lord. 

The Rev. W. Jenkyn, formerly minister of 
Christ Church, Newgate Street, died, 1685, aged 72. 
He was much persecuted, and at last committed to 



18 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

Newgate. He petitioned the King for a release^ 
and his physicians declared that his life was in danger 
from his close confinement. But no answer could 
be obtained but this, " Jenkyn shall be a prisoner as 
long as he lives." This was most rigorously adhered 
to, for he died in Newgate. He was, however, greatly 
supported. He said to one of his friends, " What 
a vast difference there is between this and my first 
imprisonment ! then I was full of doubts and fears, 
of grief and anguish ; and well I might, for going 
out of God's way and my calling, to meddle with 
things that did not belong to me. But now when " 
was found in the way of my duty, in my master's 
business, though I suffer even to bonds, yet I am 
comforted beyond measure. The Lord sheds abroad 
his love sensibly in my heart ; I feel it, I have assur- 
ance of it." Turning to some who were weeping by 
him, he said, " Why weep ye for me ] Christ lives, 
he is my friend; a friend born for adversity ; a 
friend that never dies. Weep not for me, but weep 
for yourselves and for your children/' 

A nobleman having heard of this good man's 
death, said to the Kin?, " May it please your Ma- 
jesty, Jenkyn has got his liberty." Upon which he 
asked with eager; ess, " Aye, who gave it him/' The 
nobleman replied, "A greater than your Majesty, 
the King of kings." With which the King seemed 
much struck, and remained silent. 

The Rev. Mr. Charles, who was in prison for 
conscience sake, thus writes, * c A prisoner for Christ. 
Good Lord! what is this for a poor worm. Such 
honour have not all his saints. Both the degrees I 
took in the Uuiversity have not set me so high, as 
when I commenced prisoner for Christ/' 

Mr. Quicke, though he suffered much from the 
stone, when a justice told him to what remote prison 
he would send him, he replied, " 1 know not where 
you are sending me, but this I am sure of, my heart 
is as lull of comfort as it can hold." 






PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 19 

Dr. Taylor the martyr rejoiced that ever he 
came into prison, because he there formed acquaint- 
ance with that angel of God, John Bradford, as he 
called him. 

Algerius, an Italian martyr, said, he had rather 
be in a prison with Cato, than with Caesar in the 
senate house. Thus true Christians are of the same 
ruiud concerning Christ, and can say as those soldiers 
did concerning their General Themistocles, that they 
had rather be in prison with him than at liberty with- 
out him. 

We may learn from the above instances that there 
is no place, however gloomy, where a good man is 
cast, but God can sanctify it to him. Even in a 
prison has he vouchsafed his presence, and supported 
his suffering people in a most wonderful manner. 



January 20. 

Proverbs xxix. 7. The righteous considereth the cause of 
the poor, but the wicked regardeth not to know it. 

Chap. xii. 10. A righteous man regardeth the life of hii 
beast. 

The celebrated Howard died 1790. The nu- 
merous instances of this good man's philanthropy 
would fill a volume. The following afford a practical 
comment on the above texts. 

It is said that once when he had cast up his ac- 
counts at the end of the year, and found that he had 
more than he thought, that he said to his wife, " My 
dear, I will treat you with a journey to London." 
Sire smiled and said, " My dear, the money would 
build a pretty cottage for a poor person." The hint 
was received, and accordingly it was done. 

Not only to the human species was he a great 
friend, but even to the brute creation. It is recorded 



20 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

of him that his old horses remained after they were 
incapable of labour, the happy pensioners on his 
bounty for the rest of their lives. These faithful 
creatures enjoyed themselves in perfect freedom from 
toil, and in full supply of all that old age requires ; 
several fields having by this generous master been 
appropriated for that purpose. Each of these fields 
had a comfortable shed, to which the inhabitants 
could resort in the hard weather, and were sure of 
finding the rigours of the season softened by a well 
furnished crib of the best hay, and a manger either 
of bran or corn ground, or some other nourishing 
food. 



January 21. 

Daniel ii. 21. He removeth kings and setteth up kings. 

Louis XVI. king of France, beheaded, 1793. 
No dignity of situation can secure a man against the 
vicissitudes attendant on human life. The king was 
condemned to death by a small majority of the con- 
vention. The sentence was ordered to be executed 
in twenty-four hours. The king and his family had 
been for some time kept separate from each other ; 
but he was now allowed to see them and to choose 
an ecclesiastic to attend him. The meeting, and 
above all, the separation from his family, was tender 
in the extreme. At eight o'clock in the morning, the 
unfortunate monarch was summoned to his fate. He 
ascended the scaffold with a firm air and step. Raising 
his voice, he said, "Frenchmen, I die innocent; I 

pardon all my enemies, and may France" At this 

instant the inhuman Santerre ordered the drums to 
beat, and the executioners to perform their office. 
When they offered to bind his hands, he started back, 






PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 21 

as if about to resist, but recollected himself in a 
moment, and submitted. When the instrument of 
death descended, the priest exclaimed, " Son of 
St. Louis, ascend to heaven." The bleeding head 
was held up, and a few of the populace shouted, 
Vive la Republique. His body was interred in a 
grave that was filled up with quick lime, and a guard 
placed around it till it should be consumed. 

The 21st of the month is said to have been singu- 
larly ominous to Louis XVI. April 21, 1770, he 
was married; June 21, 1770, at a fete given in con- 
sequence of his marriage, a vast number of persons 
were trampled to death ; June 21, 1792, he escaped 
from Paris to Varrennes ; September 21, 1792, 
royalty was abolished in France ; and January 21, 
1793, he was executed. 

This transaction is considered by many as un- 
grateful, impolitic, and unjust; and indeed who can 
defend it ; yet others have thought that there are 
few instances in which the retributive justice of God 
has ever been more evidently displayed ; as in the 
sufferings of the Protestants, from the reign of 
Francis I. to the period of the Revolution, were ex- 
treme. This we know, however, that the Judge of 
all the earth will do right. 



January 22. 

2 Timothy ii. 3. Thou, therefore, endure hardness, as a 
good soldier of Jesus Christ. 

Timothy killed at Ephesus, A. D. 97. The 
solemn charge given to Timothy, above named, it 
seems was not in vain. He was killed at Ephesus by 
the Heathens of that city, whom he offended by at- 
tempting to prevent their idolatrous sacrifices. It is 



22 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

noble to die struggling in a good cause. And no- 
thing can be more suitable than the advice given by 
the Apostle. Difficulties must not deter us. The 
christian hero must be inferior to none. 

" I have read of an emperor (says Mr. Brooks) 
that delighted in no undertakings so much, as those 
which, in the esteem of his counsellors and captains 
were doomed most difficult and impossible ; if they 
said such or such an enterprize would never be ac- 
complished, it was argument enough for him to make 
the adventure, and he usually prospered, he seldom 
miscarried. So I have never found greater and 
choicer blessings to attend any of my poor weak 
labours, than those that have been brought forth into 
the world through the greatest straits and difficulties. 
Nothing should discourage nor dishearten a soldier 
of Christ. Christ saith to his soldiers, as the father 
of the Black Prince said to him, " Either vanquish 
or die." 



January 23. 

Jbr. xx. 10. And we shall take our revenge on him. 

The Earl of Murray, Regent of Scotland, 
was shot, 1570, during the minority of James VL 
at Linlithgow, by Hamilton of Bothwellhaugb, who, 
after the battle of Lanside Hill in 1568, had been 
condemned to death as a rebel, but at the powerful 
intercession of Knox the reformer, obtained a pardon. 
Part of his estate was, however, bestowed upon one 
of the regent's favourites, who seized his house, and 
turned out his wife naked, in a cold night, into the 
open fields, where, before the next morning, she be- 
came furiously mad. This injury made a deeper 
impression on him than the benefit he had received, 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 23 

and he vowed to be revenged on the regent. The 
assassin escaped to France. Historians are much 
divided concerning the character of Murray ; but it 
is generally admitted that his administration was ex- 
tremely popular ; and he was long and affectionately 
remembered among the commons by the name of 
The Good Regent. 

Thus we see the evil effect of this spirit of re- 
venge ; against which we do well to watch, seeing it 
is forbidden by the Almighty, Lev. xix. 17, 18. 



January 24. 

Matt. vi. 22. The light of the body is the eye. 

The Emperor Adrian born, A. D. 76. 

\Vhat is the world, says one, without the sun, but 
a dark melancholy dungeon? What is a man with- 
out eyes, but monstrous and deformed. The two 
eyes are two luminaries, that God hath set up in the 
microcosm, man's little world. When God would 
express his tender Lve unto his people, he calls them 
the apple of his eye. He that toucheth you, toucheth 
the apple of his eye. And the like phrase St. Paul 
makes use of, when he speaks of the love of the 
Galatians unto himself: / bear you record, that if 
it had been possible, ye would have plucked out 
your eyes, and have given them to me. 

The Emperor above alluded to, with an arrow, by 
accident, put out one of his servant's eyes ; he com- 
manded him to be brought to him, and bade him ask 
what he would that he might make him amends. 
The poor man was silent; he pressed him again, 
when he said he would ask nothing, but he wished 
he had the eye which he had lost; intimating that 
an emperor was not able to make satisfaction for the 



24 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

loss of an eye. So the light nf divine truth is in- 
finitely more valuable than all other blessings. If 
we come short of this, theie can be no substitute 
found. If the soul should be lost, the whole world 
can afford us no relief. 

The Latin verses Adrian addressed to his soul, 
and translated by Pope, ("Vital spark, &c") are 
well known. 



I 



January 25. 

1 Cor. xv. 10. By the grace of God I am what I am. 

This day is fixed in our Calendar as the day of 
the conversion of St. Paul, which took place about 
A. D. 36 or 37. This singular event is recorded in 
the ixth chapter of the Acts. The conversion of 
such a man, at such a time, and by such means, 
furnishes one of the most complete proofs that have 
ever been given, of the divine origin of our holy 
religion. Lord Lyttleton has given us an admirable 
piece on the Apostle's conversion; and justly ob- 
serves, had he not been converted as he states, he 
must have been either an impostor, or an enthusiast, 
or a dupe to the fraud of others. But this his Lord- 
ship fully proves was not the case; that his conver- 
sion was miraculous, and that the christian religion 
is a divine revelation. Justly has it been said that 
infidelity has never been able to fabricate a specious 
answer to this invaluable publication. 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 25 



January 26. 

Isa. xxxii. 8. The liberal deviseth liberal things. 

Phil. iv. 5. Let your moderation be known unto all men 

Dr. Daniel Williams died, 1716, aged 73. 
He was noted for uniting moderation and liberality 
together. He married a lady of honourable family 
and considerable wealth ; which he declares in his 
Jast will, " he used with moderation as to himself, 
that he might be the more useful to others, both in 
his life and after his death/' When King George I. 
ascended the British throne, Dr. Williams, at the 
head of the Protestant Dissenting Ministers of the 
several denominations in and about the city of 
London, presented his Majesty with an humble 
address of congratulation. The Doctor gave the 
bulk of his estates, in his last will and testament, to 
charitable uses; as excellent in their nature, as 
various in their kinds, and as much calculated for 
the glory of God and the good of mankind, as any 
that have ever been known. Among other objects 
of it are, the relief of poor ministers and their 
widows ; the education of students for the ministry ; 
the support of schools, especially in Wales ; and the 
distribution of Bibles and other pious books among 
the poor. He left his library for public use, and 
ordered a convenient place to be purchased or 
erected, in which the books might be properly dis- 
posed ; and left an annuity for a librarian. A com- 
modious house was accordingly erected in Red Cross 
Street, Cripplegate, where the Doctor's collection of 
books is not only properly preserved, but has been 
gradually receiving large additions. This is also 
the place in whfch the body of Dissenting Ministers 
meet to transact their business ; and is a kind of re« 
C 



26 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

pository for paintings of Nonconformist Ministers, 
for MSS. and other matters of curiosity and utility. 

In regard to the principles referred to above, let 
us, if favoured with earthly prosperity, remember 
that the apostolic injunction is binding upon us both 
as men and as Christians. 

"A moderate use of worldly things (says Dr. 
Bates) is an excellent preservative from the evil ad- 
hering to them. It is a divine blessing to partake of 
the gifts of God with contentment and tranquillity ; 
especially it is sweet to taste his love in them. God 
gives to a man that is good in his sight, wisdom, and 
knowledge, and joy. That is, to use temperately 
and comfortably our outward blessings. But the 
flesh is the Devil's solicitor, and persuades much, 
with a freer fancy and looser affection, to enjoy the 
world, than is consistent with the prosperity of their 
souls. When Diogenes observed, with the many 
sick and languishing persons, the consumptive, hy- 
dropick, and other diseased, that came to the temple 
of JEsculapius for recovery; and that after their 
sacrifices, they made a luxurious feast, he cried out, 
"Is this the way to recover health] If you were 
sound, it is the speedy way to bring diseases, and 
being diseased, to bring death to you." It is appli- 
cable in a higher sense; the intemperate use of 
sensual delights, weakens the life and vigour of the 
soul in a saint, and certainly brings death to diseased 
souls, that habitually indulge their corrupt affections* 
The apostle saith of the licentious woman, "She that 
lives in pleasure is dead while she lives/' An allu- 
sion to a torch that is consumed by its own flames. 
The affections, however, are not like poisonous plants, 
to be eradicated; but as wild, to be cultivated. 
They were at first set in the fresh soil of man's 
nature, by the hand of God. And the scripture 
describes the divine perfections, and the actions 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 27 

proceeding from them, by terms borrowed from 
human affections, which prove them to be innocent 
in their own nature. Plutarch observes, when Ly- 
curgus commanded to cut up all the vines in Sparta 
to prevent drunkenness, he should rather have made 
fountains by them to allay the heat of the wines, and 
make them beneficial. So true wisdom prescribes 
how to moderate and temper the affections, not to 
destroy them," 



January 27. ■ • 

Psalm xxxi. 15. My times are in thy hand. 

The Rev. Abraham Booth, of London, died, 
1806, in the 72 year of his age. He had been pastor 
of the Baptist Church in Little Prescot Street s 
Goodman's Fields, nearly 37 years. The sentiment 
of the above text was enjoyed by him in his illness e 
" I am," said he, "in good hands. I think I am 
more afraid of dishonouring God by impatience, 
than I am afraid of death; adding, I must go to 
Christ as a poor sinner, a poor grey-headed sinner ; 
I can go no other way/' Afterwards he said, "I 
have no fear about my state; 1 now live upon what 
I have been teaching others. Jesus is a good 
Master." Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, 



January 28. 

Proy. x. 20. The heart of die wicked is little worth. 

On this day, 1547, died, after a life distinguished 
by caprice, violence, and tyranny, Henry VIII, 
C 2 



28 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

We cannot reflect on the vices of this prince without 
being shocked. How were all the appendages of 
majesty sullied by his cruelties and wickedness ; and 
may we not here remark, that whatever be the ex- 
ternal condition of a wicked man, he is loathsome in 
the sight of God. His lands, his bouse, his cattle, 
his estates, may have some value or worth in them, 
but he himself is an object of wretchedness and de- 
pravity. His mind is dark, his conversation is pol- 
luted, his affections are misplaced, his conduct an 
abomination to the Most High. Yet how many 
pride themselves in vain shew ; spend their time in 
the pursuit of unlawful pleasures, and continually 
labour to set themselves off as something in the eyes 
of men ; little thinking, that the attention paid them 
by their equals or inferiors does not arise from a 
sense of the excellency of their character, but merely 
on account of what they possess. Socrates thus 
delivered himself to one who had a fine house and 
many splendid things, "What," saith he, "there are 
many come to see thy house and thy fine things 
there, but nobody comes to see thee; they know 
there is a worth in thy fine house, and in thy fine 
furniture, but they see no worth in thee." How 
applicable is this to many who, while they attract 
multitudes to behold their external grandeur and 
costly retinue, yet have no moral excellency to ex- 
cite admiration or demand praise. 



Jamia/Fy 29. 

trsALM xo. 9. Far all our days are passed away in thy 
wrath : we spend our years as a tale that is told. 

The Rev. Mr. M'Kill, pastor of Bankend, of 
Duresdeen, in Scotland, died suddenly, on the 29th 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 2S 

of January, 1794. The manner of his death was 
very remarkable, and has made an impression upon 
the minds of his parishioners which will not be soon 
effaced. He mounted the pulpit in good health, 
lectured as usual, and it being the last Sabbath in 
the year, he chose for his text these words, "We 
spend our years as a tale that is told." He was 
representing in a very pathetic manner, the fleeting 
nature of human life, and of all earthly things ; when 
all of a sudden he dropped down in the pulpit and 
instantly expired. Reader, prepare, watch. 



January 30. 

Psailm ii. 10. Be wise, now, therefore, O ye kings. 

King Charles I. beheaded, 1649. Various are 
the opinions of the character of this monarch. Some 
consider him as a martyr. Mrs. Macauley says, 
Passion for power was Charles's predominant vice ; 
idolatry to his regal prerogatives his governing prin- 
ciple; the interests of his crown legitimated every 
measure, and sanctified in his eye the widest deviation 
from moral rule. Neither gratitude, clemency, hu- 
manity, equity, nor generosity have place in the fair 
part of his character. The want of integrity is 
manifest in every part of his conduct, and this was 
the vice for which, above all others, he paid the 
tribute of his life. Charles, observes Rapin, acted 
with so little sincerity in his engagements, that there 
was no dependence on his word, and this was one 
of the principal causes of his ruin. He died how- 
ever forgiving his enemies. It being remarked, that 
the king, the moment before he stretched out his 
neck to the executioner, had said to Juxon, with a 
C 3 



30 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 



very earnest accent, the single word, Remember; 
great mysteries were supposed to be concealed under 
that word ; and the generals vehemently insisted on 
the prelate that he should inform them of the king's 
meaning. Juxon told them, that the king having 
frequently charged him to ineulcate on his son the 
forgiveness of his murderers, had taken this opportu- 
nity in the last moment of his life, when his com 
mands, he supposed, would be regarded as sacred 
and inviolable, to reiterate that desire ; and that his 
mild spirit thus terminated its present course by an 
act of benevolence to his greatest enemies. 



January 31. 



Genesis iii. 6. And when the woman saw that the tree was 
good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a 
tree to be desired to make one wise, she took thereof and 
did eat, and gave also to her husband with her, and he 
did eat. 

The Poison Tree. " There is," says one, " a 
tree called the manchaneel, which grows in the West 
Indies ; — its appearance is very attractive, and the 
wood of it peculiarly beautiful ; — it bears a kind of 
apple resembling the golden pippen. This fruit 
looks very tempting, and smells very fragrant ; but 
to eat of it is instant death ; and its sap or juice is 
so poisonous, that if a few drops of it fall on the skin, 
it raises blisters and occasions great pain. The 
Indians dip their arrows in the juice, that they may 
poison their enemies when they wound them. Pro- 
vidence hath so appointed it, that one of these trees 
is never found, but near^it there also grows a white 
wood, or a fig-tree, the juice of either of which, if 
applied in time, is a remedy for the diseases produced 






PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. SI 

by the manchaneel. " Now, when I read this ac- 
count, I thought of sin and salvation. Sin, like this 
poisonous apple, looks pleasant to the eye, and men 
desire it, — eat of it, and die. We may think there 
is no harm in such a thing, — 'tis only a little sin ; 
but who would eat even a little poison 1 The least 
sin, if not forgiven, will ruin our souls for ever. 
This is fruit that must not be tasted ; yea, it ought 
not to be looked upon, or thought of. It is sin that 
gives to the darts of Satan all their fiery qualities ; 
and to the arrow of death all its bitterness. Now all 
who have looked upon the fruit of this free have 
desired it, and have eaten of it ; and, if not delivered 
from its fatal effects, will surely die ; but there is a 
remedy at hand : it is the precious blood of the Son 
of God which soothes the troubled conscience, and 
cleanses it from all sin. 

Not balm, new bleeding from the wounded tree, 

Nor biess'd Arabia with her spicy grove, 

Such fragrance yields, Rowe. 

Apply, therefore, to this means of cure ! — fly to a 
crucified Saviour !— There is no time to be lost ! — ■ 
the poison works within ! — the disease every moment 
is increasing !-— Go to the great Physician without 
delay, and say, ' Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make 
me whole !' n 



February 1. 

Psalm cxxiv. 4. Then the waters had overwhelmed us, the 
stream had gone over our soul. 

The Abergavenny, East India ship, !ost. She 
sailed from Portsmouth this day, 1805, with a cargo 
worth £200,000, and stood down the channel with a 
C 4 



32 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

fair wind ; but the weather changing, a signal was 
made for the ships to steer for Portland Road. The 
pilot, either from ignorance or intoxication, ran this 
ill-fated ship on shore, about four in the afternoon, 
upon a well known reef, not far from Weymouth ; 
on which she lay beating for several hours, while 
every effort was made, but in vain, to get her off. 
Till eight at night she continued making more water 
than all the pumps could clear, aided by every other 
exertion, and the united endeavours of 400 people, 
whose situation, as the night advanced, became every 
moment more dreadful and alarming. Signal guns of 
distress were fired for assistance, in the hope of 
getting boats to save the crew, passengers, King's 
and Company's troops. At ten, while all were 
anxiously looking towards the shore, it was found the 
water had reached the top deck, and no expectation 
remained of saving the ship. In this afflictive 
moment of horror and despair, she suddenly swung 
off the shoal into deep water ; and the chief mate 
observing her going down, called aloud to the cap- 
tain, a man remarkable for temper and fortitude, 
that it was impossible to save her. He instantly re- 
plied, it cannot be helped : God's will be done. In 
a few moments she was buried in the remorseless 
waves, which swept into eternity 263 human beings, 
who had scarcely time to call for mercy. The 
highest part of the hull was 30 feet under water ; 
and of 130 saved out of 402, nearly the whole got 
upon the topmast rigging, and were taken up by 
boats from the laud. 

Alas, who can tell what a day may bring forth. 
Surely those who were saved, might with propriety 
adopt the text we have chosen, 'and say, " If the 
Lord had" not been on their side, the waters had 
overwhelmed us, and the stream had gone over our 
souL" 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 33 

February 2. 

Job xxxvii. 6. He saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth, 

Elizabeth Woodcock, an inhabitant of the 
village of Impington, near Cambridge, preserved, 
1799. She was returning home from Cambridge 
market, lost her way through the inclemency of the 
weather, and being overwhelmed in a snow drift, con- 
tinued in that deplorable situation nearly eight days 
and nights ; but was at last discovered alive, and sur- 
vived her confinement several months. Snow is not 
only beautiful in its appearance, but useful in its 
effects. It secures the corn, plants, and trees from the 
the cold, and by the saltpetre it contains, contributes 
to swell the seeds. Let us in the contemplation of it, 
be reminded of our duty. The virtuous woman, it is 
said, is not afraid of the snow, Prov. xxx. 23. She has 
made provision against it ; and is not to be easily de- 
terred from discharging kind offices to others by its 
descent. Let us, in beholding it, remember who hath 
said, that "as the snow cometh down from heaven, and 
returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and 
maketh it bring forth and bud, so shall his word be." 



February 3. 

Numb. x\ii. 12. Behold we die, we perish,, we all perish. 

Fifteen persons were crushed to death, 1794, in 
attempting to obtain admission in the Little Theatre 
in the Haymarket. The cause of the great croud, it 
seems, was the presence of their Majesties, whom the 
multitude were very desirous of seeing. This should 
C 5 



34 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR, 

operate as a warning to others to avoid a croud, 
which has proved fatal to the lives of many. Places 
of public pleasure are not the places where death is 
to be met with in composure and peace. Let us learu 
too the uncertainty of life ; little did these persons 
imagine, when they rose from their beds in the morn- 
ing, what would be the awful event of the day. How 
well to prepare for a better state, as we know not to 
what dangers we are exposed. 



February 4. 

Psalm cxxx. 4. There is forgiveness with thee that thou 
ma^est be feared. 

Severus the emperor died, A. D. 211. He was 
said to be cruel ; and as a proof of it, it is recorded 
that he never did an act of humanity or forgave a 
fault. In contemplating such characters as these, 
the mind is filled with horror and disgust. Alas, 
what monsters hath sin made men; and often the 
greater their prosperity, the more wanton and cruel 
are they in their conduct. But how pleasant to 
reflect, that we have to do with one whose mercy is 
unspeakable, whose love is as great as his power, 
and who is ready to forgive all who call upon him. 
Blessed Lord, may a sense of thy clemency melt our 
hard hearts into lovely humility and true penitence; 
that we may serve thee in righteousness and true 
holiness all our days. 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 35 



February 5. 

Romans i. 22. Professing themselves to be wise, they became 
fools. 

Cato destroyed himself, B. C. 45. 

" The heathen philosophers/' says Dr. Bates, "pro- 
fessing themselves to be wise in their speculations, 
became fools in practice, and were confounded with 
all their philosophy when they should have made use 
of it. Some killed themselves from the apprehen- 
sion of sufferings. Their death was not the effect 
of courage, but cowardice, the remedy of their fear. 
Others, impatient of disappointment in their great 
designs, refused to live. I will instance in two of 
the most eminent among them, Cato and Brutus; 
they were both philosophers of the manly sect ; and 
virtue never appeared with a brighter lustre among 
the heathens, than when joined with a stoical reso- 
lution. And they were not imperfect proficients, 
but masters in philosophy. Seneca employs all the 
ornaments of his eloquence to make Cato's eulogy. 
He represents him as the consummate exemplar of 
wisdom ; as one that realized the sublime idea of 
virtue described in their writings. And Brutus was 
esteemed equal to Cato. Yet these, with all the 
power of their philosophy, were not able to bear the 
shocks of adversity. Like raw fencers, one thrust 
put them into such disorders, that they forgot all 
their instructions in the place of trial. For, being 
unsuccessful in their endeavours to restore Rome to 
its liberty, overcome with discontent and despair, 
they laid violent hands upon themselves. Cato being 
prevented in his first attempt, afterwards tore open 
his wounds with fierceness and rage. And Brutus, 
ready to plunge the sword into his breast, com- 
plained that virtue was but a vain name. So jn- 
C 6 



36 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

sufficient are the best precepts of mere natural reason 
to relieve us in distress. As torrents that are dried 
up in the heat of summer when there is the most need 
of them ; so all comforts fail in the extremity, that 
are not derived from the fountain of life. 

I will only add, how ineffectual philosophy is to 
support us in a dying hour. The fear of death is so 
strong, that by it men are kept in bondage all their 
days. It is an enemy that threatens none whom it 
doth not strike, and there is none but it threatens. 
Certainly that spectre which Caesar had not courage 
to look in the face, is very affrighting. Alexander 
himself, that so often despised it in the field, when 
passion that transported him cast a veil over his eyes, 
yet when he was struck with a mortal disease in 
Babylon, and had death in his view, his palace was 
filled with priests and diviners, and no superstition 
was so sottish, but he used, to preserve himself. 
And although the philosophers seemed to contemn 
death, yet the great preparations they made to en* 
counter it, argue a secret fear in their breasts. Many 
discourses, reasonings, and arguments are employed 
to sweeten the necessity, that cruel necessity, but 
they are all ineffectual." 



February 6. 

James ▼. 5. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth. 

King Charles II. died at Whitehall, 1685. 
The character and conduct of this monarch form an 
awful proof of the truth of the above assertion. He 
had no legitimate offspring, but numerous by his 
mistresses. The nation unhappily followed his ex- 
ample as to licentiousness. Nothing but riot and 
dissipation took place every where, The court set 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 37 

them the example; nothing but scenes of gallantry 
and festivity were to be seen ; the horrors of the late 
war were become the subject of ridicule ; the for- 
malities of the sectaries were displayed on the stage, 
and even laughed at from the pulpit. In short, the 
best mode of religion now was to have as little as 
possible ; and to avoid, not only the supposed hypo- 
crisy of sectaries, but even the common duties of 
morality. In the midst of this riot and dissipation, 
the old and faithful followers of the royal family 
were left unrewarded. Numbers who had fought 
both for the king and his father, and who had lost 
their whole fortunes in his service, still continued to 
pine in want and oblivion ; while in the mean time 
their persecutors, who had acquired fortunes during 
the civil war, were permitted to enjoy them without 
molestation. The wretched royalists petitioned and 
murmured in vain, the monarch fled from their ex- 
postulations to scenes of mirth and festivity ; and the 
act of indemnity was generally said to have been an 
act of forgiveness to the king's enemies, and of ob- 
livion to his friends. 

Charles II. will not be forgotten, while the names, 
and works of the 2000 able men who were ejected 
from their livings by him, can be remembered. 



February 7. 

Job xxix. 19. My root was spread out by the waters. 

The Rev. Joseph Caryl died, 1673. He was 
minister of St. Magnus, London bridge. He was a 
man of great piety, learning, and modesty. When 
driven from his living, he gathered a congregation in 
the neighbourhood. When he died, the church chose 



38 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

Dr. Owen for their pastor ; who was succeeded by 
Mr. Clarkson, Dr. Chauncey, Dr. Watts (for whom 
they built a new meeting-house, in Bury Street), Dr. 
Savage, and now Mr. Beck. Mr. Caryl gives us the 
following illustration of the above passage. 

It is reported that when an ambassador of Spain 
was brought into the treasury of Venice, and there 
shewn great quantities of gold, he turned up some of 
the gold at the bottom, and being asked why he did 
so, answered, I do it to see whether this golden 
treasure hath any root. Implying that his master's 
treasures had a root, his mines in India, which grew 
and was renewed every year. Thus Job, in his pro- 
sperity, considered himself as a root or tree planted 
by the waters ; so the Christian, in a spiritual sense, 
is like the tree planted by the rivers of water that 
bringeth forth his fruit in his season. The root of 
the righteous, saith Solomon, yieldeth fruit. 



February 8. 

Gal. \i. 14. God forbid that I should glory, save in the 
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Mr. Laurence Saunders burnt at Coventry, 
1555. When brought before Bibhop Bonner, he 
said, "You seek my blood, and you shall have it. 
I pray God you may be so baptized in it, that you 
may hereafter loathe blood sucking, and become a 
better man." He seemed to have all fear of death 
taken away. Like the Apostle, he looked upon the 
cross as the way to tlie crown. He proceeded to 
the place of execution with much apparent courage 
and comfort. When he came to the place, lie fell to 
tiie ground and prayed. He then arose and. look the 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 30 

stake in his arms, to which he was to be chained, and 
kissed it, saying, "Welcome the cross of Christ; 
welcome everlasting life." He was fastened to the 
stake, and the fire was kindled ; but the wood being 
green, they cruelly tormented him for a long time. 
But he was greatly supported, and endured with the 
utmost fortitude and patience, arid at length fell 
asleep in Jesus. 



February 9. 

Romans viii. 13. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die ? 
but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the 
body, ye shall live. 

Bishop Hooper martyred, 1555. 

Such, as one observes, is the method of the gospel, 
that where God persuades to duty, he propounds the 
reward; when he dissuades from sin, he urges judg- 
ments. It is a holy design for a Christian to counter- 
balance the pleasures of sin with the terrors of it; 
and thus to cure the poison of the viper with the 
flesh of it. Thus that admirable saint and martyr, 
Bishop Hooper, when he came to die, one endea- 
voured to influence his mind by saying, u O Sir, 
consider that life is sweet and death is bitter." To 
which he replied, " Life to come is more sweet, and 
death to come is more bitter ;" and so went patiently 
to the stake. When the iron work was brought to 
fasten him to the stake, he took an iron hoop, and 
put it about his waist, and bidding them take away 
the rest, he said, " I doubt not but God will give me 
strength to abide the extremity of the fire without 
binding." He died, we are told, as quietly as a child 
in his bed — in the 80th year of his age* 



40 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

February 10. 

Romans i. 29. Full of envy, murder,— 






Henry Stuart,— Lord Darnley, who on 
learning Mary, Queen of Scots, had been, by her 
proclamation, declared King of Scotland, was mur- 
dered. It is generally supposed that this tragical 
scene was acted by the contrivance of Bothwell, and 
with the connivance of the Queen herself, since she 
soon after espoused her husband's murderer. The 
house where Darnley slept was blown up with gun- 
powder ; so that it is uncertain whether he was put 
to death first, or perished in the ruins. This exe- 
crable deed was perpetrated in a lonely mansion, in 
the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, about two o'clock 
in the morning. It has been the object of late 
eminent historians, either greatly to palliate the 
crimes, or wholly rescue the memory of the un- 
fortunate Mary from obloquy: Hume, Stuart, Tytler, 
north of the Tweed, and the elegant Whitaker on 
this side. But as long as the fate of Darnley, and the 
Queen's connexions with Bothwell are related, a 
shade will, we apprehend, be found to tinge her 
character, that neither art nor panegyrics can effect- 
ually obliterate. 

What reason have we to deplore the sad effects of 
sin in our nature. The prohibition of God himself; 
the voice of reason ; the fear of punishment ; all have 
no effect. Lord, what is man ! 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 41 



February 11. 

2 Peter i. 23. Who when he was reviled, reviled not again. 
Romans xii. 19. Avenge not yourselves. 

Shenstone the poet died, 1763. Tenderness 
in every sense of the word was his peculiar character- 
istic; and his friends, domestics, and poor neigh- 
bours, daily experienced the effects of his benevo- 
lence. He used to say, " 1 never will be a re- 
vengeful enemy ; but I cannot, it is not in my nature, 
to be half a friend." Like Philip of Macedon, he 
was willing to pass by what others thought worthy 
of resentment. Demochares, an Athenian, sent some 
of his countrymen with an embassy to Philip. The 
monarch gave them audience, and when he asked 
them what he eould do to please the people of 
Athens? Demochares replied, " Hang yourself/' 
This impudence raised the indignation of all the 
hearers ; but Philip mildly dismissed them, and bade 
them ask their countrymen, which deserved most the 
apellation of wise and moderate, either they who 
gave such ill language, or they who received it with- 
out any signs of resentment. 



February 12. 

Genesis xx. 5. In the integrity of my heart and innocency 
of my hands have I done this. 

Lady Jane Grey and her husband beheaded 
on Tower Hill, 1554. This illustrious personage fell 
a victim to the ambition of her parents, who, on the 
demise of Edward II. prevailed on her to suffer 
herself to be proclaimed Queen of England. The 



42 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

impious Mary began her reign with the murder of 
this innocent young creature of eighteen ; who, for 
simplicity of manners, purity of heart, and extensive 
learning, was hardly ever equalled in any age or 
country. But, alas ! Jane was an obstinate heretic 
A few days before her execution, Heckenham the 
Queen's chaplain, with a pious intention to rescue 
her poor soul from eternal misery, paid her frequent 
visits in the Tower, and used every argument in his 
power to convert her to the popish religioa: but he 
found her so much his superior in argument that he 
gave up the contest ; resigning up her body to the 
block, and her soul to the devil. 

When on the scaffold, she said, " My Lords, and 
you good christian people, who come to see me die, 
I am under a law, and by that law, as a never-erring 
judge, I am condemned to die : not for any thing I 
have offended the Queen's majesty ; for I will wash 
my hands guiltless thereof, and deliver to my God a 
soul as pure from such trespass as innocence from in- 
justice; but only for that I consented to the thing I 
was enforced unto; constraint making the law be« 
lieve I did that which I never understood.'' 






February 13. 

Romans viii. 6. The carnal mind is enmity against God. 

Dr. Cotton Mather, an eminent American 
minister, died, 17*28, aged 65. In the first year of 
his ministry he had reason to believe he was made 
the instrument of converting at lea^t thirty souls. 
He wrote and published 382 books, reckoning essays 
and single sermons. A few hours before he died, he 
said, " Now I have nothing more to do here. My 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 43 

will is entirely swallowed up in the will of God." 
He continued in a sweet composure of mind to the 
very last. In his essays to do good, he gives us a 
striking illustration of the above passage. 

I happened once, says he, to be present in the 
room where a dying man could not leave the world 
until he had lamented to a minister (whom he had 
sent for on this account), the unjust calumnies and 
injuries which he had often cast upon him. The 
minister asked the poor penitent what was the occa- 
sion of this abusive conduct ; whether he had been 
imposed upon by any false report. The man made 
this answer, " No, Sir, it was merely this, I thought 
you were a good man and that you did much good 
in the world, and therefore I hated yon. Is it 
possible, is it possible, he added, for such a wretch 
to find pardon/' 



February 14. 

Pffov. xv. 5. He that regardeth reproof is prudent. 

The Rev. Thomas Rosewell, of Sutton Man- 
devil, died, 1692. He was invited by Lady Hunger- 
ford into her family, where he continued about seven 
years ; was much respected and very useful. Having 
observed something in her Ladyship's conduct which 
he thought needed reproof, he mentioned it to her in 
a very humble and prudent manner. After she had 
retired some time into her closet, she brought Mr. 
Rosewell a bag, containing £100, half of it for his 
own use, and the rest to be disposed of in charity as 
he should see rit. 

This was a happy instance of regarding reproof, of 
which indeed we have so few examples. 



44 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 



February 15. 

Rev. xv. 3. Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God 
Almighty* 

The Pope expelled from Rome, 1798. Who is 
there that considers the former grandeur, riches, and 
influence of the Popes, but what must join in the 
above exclamation. How astonishing the change, 
yet how illustrative of scripture prophecy ! Ancient 
governments, indeed, have been dissolved, thrones 
have tottered, nations have been convulsed, and 
various, public calamities have shaken the earth ; but 
who does not see, in the midst of them all, the power 
of antichrist decaying, and the JMan of Sin so en- 
feebled as to indicate his certain ruin* Soon shall 
Babylon fall, for her sins have reached unto heaven, 
and God hath remembered her iniquities. The Pope 
has lately returned to Rome, and his power is ap- 
parently reviving, but it cannot stand. 



February 16. 

Rom. viii. 13. If God be for us, who can be against us? 

Melancthon was born, 1497. He was one of 
the wisest and greatest men of his age. Luther had 
a high opinion of him, and is said to have written on 
his table one day these words, " Philip Melancthon 
is both substance and words ; Erasmus words without 
substance; Luther substance without words; and 
Carolostadt neither substance nor words,/' Melanc- 
thon happening to see it, modestly said, " Too much 
is attributed to me; good words ought to be ascribed 
to Luther, for he speaketh exceedingly well." Me- 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 45 

lancthon was remarkable for a mild and peaceable 
disposition. 

The testimonies of piety with which he ended his 
days were admirable : and it is observable, that one 
thing which made him look upon death as a happi- 
ness, was, that it delivered him from theological per- 
secutions. Some days before he died, he wrote on a 
piece of paper in two columns, the reasons why he 
ought not to be sorry for leaving this world. One 
of these columns contained the blessings that death 
would procure him ; the other contained the evils 
from which death would deliver him. The first 
column had six heads. First, That he should come 
to the light. Secondly, That he should see God. 
Thirdly, That he should contemplate the Son of 
God. Fourthly, That he should understand those 
admirable mysteries which he could not comprehend 
in this life. Fifthly, Why we are created such as we 
are. Sixthly, What is the union of the two natures 
in Jesus Christ. The second column had only two 
articles : First, That he should sin no more. Secondly, 
That he should be no longer exposed to the vexations 
and rage of the divines. 

Having received letters from Frankfort concerning 
the persecution of some godly men in France, he said 
that his bodily disease was not comparable to the 
grief of his mind for his godly friends, and for the 
miseries of the church. Raising himself up in his 
F bed, he cried out in the above language of the text 
for this day, "If God be for us, who can be against 
us." After this he prajed to himself, and being at 
length asked if he would have any thing, he answered, 
"Nothing but heaven, therefore trouble me no mone 
with speaking to rue." He died, April 19, 1560, in 
his 64tb yea*. 



46 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 



February 17. 

1 John i. 7, The blood of Jestfs Christ his Soa cleanseth us 
from all sin. 

The great and useful missionary Swartz died, 
1798. He gives us the following practical illustration 
of the above passage. " A certain man on the Ma- 
labar coast," says he, " had inquired of various 
devotees and priests, how he might make atonement 
for his sins, and at last he was directed to drive iron 
spikes, sufficiently blunted, through his sandals; and 
on these spikes he was directed to place his naked 
foot, and to walk 250 coss, that is, about 480 miles. 
If through loss of blood, or weakness of body, he 
was obliged to halt, he might wait for healing and 
strength. He undertook the journey; and while he 
halted under a large shady tree, where the gospel was 
sometimes preached ; one of the missionaries came 
and preached in his hearing from the above-mentioned 
passage. While he was preaching, the man rose up 
and threw off his torturing sandals, and cried out 
aloud, "This is what I want;" and he became a 
lively witness, that the blood of Jesus Christ does in- 
deed cleanse from all sin." 

Mr. Swartz directed his missionary exertions to a 
place where the inhabitants "were collaries or pro- 
fessed thieves; and what was the consequence? 
Why we are told, " that since Mr. Swartz had been 
among them so often, and had formed congrega- 
tions in those parts, they had heard nothing of 
robberies." 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 47 



February I8 e 



Jer* xxxi. §. I am a father to Israel. 
Matt. vi. $ Our Father, 



Luther died, 1546. This great man's character 
and success are so well known that we need say no- 
thing here. The following account will afford us an 
illustration of the above passages. lie was one day 
catechising some country people in a village in 
Saxony ; when one of the men repeated these words* 
I believe in God the Father Almighty, Luther asked 
him what was the signification of Almighty ? The 
countryman honestly replied, I do not know. Nor 
do I know, said Luther, nor do all the learned men 
in the world know ; however, you may safely believe 
that God is your Father, and that he is both able 
and willing to save and protect yourself and all your 
neighbours." Leaving, therefore, all disquisitions on 
the nature of Deity, how delightful is it that we, 
though sinful creatures, can recognize him as our 
Father. This appellation has proved a source of 
comfort to many. When that excellent man, Mr. 
Murcot, was in great anguish, fearing that God was 
not his Father, these words were impressed on his 
mind, If I am not thy Father, why dost thou follow 
"after me. Another time being troubled on the same 
account, these words came into his mind with power, 
If I am not thy Father, am I thine enemy ? which 
afforded him some degree of relief. One who was 
seized with a violent fit of the stone and strangury, 
could say, " These afflictions proceed from a loving 
Father. I am a broken vessel, fit for no work. 
Lord, I submit, I submit."- Another, under the stone 
and gout, when asked about his health, would say, 
** I am upon my Father's rack." Thus we find God 



48 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

supports his people in the midst of their greatest 
difficulties, by giving them a view of his great love, 
intimate relations, and all-sufficient grace ! 



February 19. 

james v. 12. But above all things, my brethren, Swear ifot, 

Prince Henry Frederic, son of James VI. 
of Scotland, and afterwards Prince of Wales, born, 
1593. He died in the 19th year of his age; and 
was one of the most accomplished, learned, and pious 
princes of the age in which he lived. He had a 
great aversion to the profanation of the name of 
God ; and was never heard to take it in vain. Being 
one day asked why he did not swear at play as 
others did ? he answered, that he knew no game 
worthy of an oath. And on another occasion, he 
said, " All the pleasure in the world is not worth an 
oath." He ordered, that when any person in his 
family was heard to swear, he should be fined, and 
the money given to the poor ; and that boxes should 
be kept for that purpose at each of his palaces* 



February 20. 

)Phil. i. 23; Having a desire to depart and to be with Cfarisf. 

Mrs. Rowe died, 1737. "The righteous," says 
Solomon, "hath hope in his death." The sublime 
conceptions he has formed of the glories of a future 
state, and his firm dependence on Him who has pur- 
chased and secured them for his possession, pluck 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 49 

the sting from death, and triumph over the fears of 
humanity. In this world he has tribulation, but in 
the next he realises uninterrupted happiness. Here 
his best services are clogged with imperfection, and 
the clearest visions of his faith are obscure ; in 
heaven he expects a perfect freedom in his praise and 
a beatific sight of his God face to face. It is said of 
Mrs. Rowe, that when her acquaintance expressed to 
her the joy they felt at seeing her look so well, and 
possessed of so much health as promised many years 
to come ; she was wont to reply, " that it was the 
same as telling a slave his fetters were like to be 
lasting, or complimenting him on the strength of the 
walls of his dungeon." 

Dr. Maclaine was fifty years minister of the English 
Church at the Hague; but by the revolution in 
Holland in 1790, he took refuge in this country, 
where he died in peace and comfort. When in- 
formed that his disorder must be fatal, he replied, 
" You remember Socrates, the wisest and best of 
heathens, in this state could only express a hope 
mingled with anxiety and doubt; but blessed be 
God, though a grievous sinner, in retiring to that 
bed from which I shall rise no more, I know in whom 
I have believed. Death cannot separate me from 
the love of Christ, and in him to die is gain." 

If a heathen philosopher rejoiced that he should die 
because he believed he should see Homer, Hesiod, and 
other eminent persons, how much more do I rejoice, 
said a pious old minister, who am sure to see Christ 
my Saviour, besides so many wise, holy, and re- 
nowned patriarchs, prophets^ and apostles. 



D 



50 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR, 



February 21. 

] John v. 20. And we know that the Son of God is come, 
and hath given us an understanding, that we may know 
him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even ia 
his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life. 

The celebrated Dr. Allix died, 1717, aged 75. 
He was first minister of the Reformed Church at 
Rouen in France, and afterwards at Charentes, then 
the principal church of the Reformed, about a league 
from Paris. At the revocation of the Edict of Nantz, 
he took refuge in this country. He was particularly 
celebrated for his book in defence of the Trinity. 
His piece on the judgment of the antient Jewish 
church against the Unitarians, in this eontrovery, 
and on the Divinity of Christ, made a considerable 
impression on the public mind. And however some 
may cavil at the doctrine ; the proof from Scripture 
is not so difficult as many imagine. 

Two gentlemen were once disputing on the divinity 
of Christ. One of them who argued against it, said, 
4t If it were true, it certainly would have been ex- 
pressed in more clear and unequivocal terms." 
4i Well," said the other, " admitting that you be- 
lieved it, were you authorized to teach it, and 
-allowed to -.use your own 4anguage, how would you 
express the doctrine to make it indubitable ]" " I 
would say," replied he, w that Jesus Christ is fke 
true God" " You are very happy," rejoined the 
other, " in the choice of your words ; for you have 
happened to hit upon the very words of inspiration. 
St. John, speaking of the Son, says, w This is the 
true God and eternal life. 

I was once arguing with a person on the same sub- 
ject, and to prove my position that Christ was God, 
I quoted this very scripture ; which so confounded 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 51 

him that he said he did not think there was any such 
passage in John, as it was unlike his language. He 
said, however, that when he got home he certainly 
would examine that chapter and see for himself. 



February 22. 

Genesis xlvii. 8. And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old 
art thou ? 

It is well sometimes seriously to reflect on our 
age and condition in life. Our days are but few, and 
they are rapidly hasting away. But should we be 
spared to extreme old age ; to what purpose shall we 
live, if we live not to the glory of Him who is our 
kind Benefactor and best Friend. Our real life 
should be reckoned from the time of our devotedness 
to him, rather than from the time of our natural 
birth ; for it may be truly said, if we live not to him, 
we are dead while we live. So thought the subject 
of the following relation. The son of a wealthy 
grazier in Rutlandshire (says a clergyman) was led 
by Providence to my church many years ago, and 
graciously drawn to the love of God our Saviour. 
From thence he became a frequent attendant, though 
living at a distance of twenty miles. The old man, 
his Father, just then fourscore, perceived the change 
that had taken place in his son, and on inquiry the 
son told him all the circumstances and signal blessings 
which had attended my preaching. " Son," said the 
old man, " I wish I could hear the man myself: Do 
you think I can ride so far?" " Father," said he, 
41 if you will go to cousin W. overnight on Saturday, 
I think you could." The horses were saddled, and 
off came father and son on the Saturday night. 
Sundav they came to church, aad the very first dts 
D 2 



53 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

course reached the old man's heart ; and from that 
day, he began to confess Jesus Christ as his Strength 
and Redeemer. During two summers he attended 
at the same place, but infirmities confining him to his 
bed, he required me to visit him at his house, where 
I found him with the tears running down his cheeks, 
while he spoke of the hardness of his heart ; yet his 
heart seemed tender as that of a little child. Mr. C« 
said I, how old are you ? " Little more," says he, 
"than two years old, for I can only reckon from the 
time I knew the Lord Jesus; the fourscore years 
before, were but a life of death." At 84 he departed, 
full of faith and hope, and entered at the eleventh 
hour into the joy of his Lord. 



February 23. 

Mark v. 36. Be not afraffl, only believe. 

Dr. Thomas Goodwin died, 1679, in his 80th 
year. The doctor was the instrument of relieving 
the mind of Mr. Marshall, author of a Treatise on 
Sanctification. In his early years Mr. M. was under 
great distress for a longtime, through a conscious- 
ness of guilt, and a divine displeasure. At last 
mentioning his case to Dr. Thomas Goodwin, and 
lamenting the greatness of his sins, that able divine 
replied, " You have forgotten the greatest sin of all, 
the sin of unbelief in refusing to believe in Christ, 
and rely on his atonement and righteousness for your 
acceptance with God." This word in season banished 
his fears. He looked to Jesus, and was filled with 
joy and peace in believing. " By disobeying the 
commands of the law, says one, we sin against Divine 
Majesty, but by disobeying the commands of the 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 53 

gospel, we sin against divine mercy. If indeed we 
remember our sins, and be deeply humbled, God has 
promised to forget them, and be reconciled to us/' 



February 24. 

1 Thess. ii. 12. That ye would walk worthy of God, who 
hath called you unto his kingdom and glory. 

Prov. xxii. 1. A good name is rather to be chosen than 
great riches. 

This day was fought the battle of Pavia, in Italy, 
1525, between the French and the Imperialists, when 
the former were defeated, and their King, Francis I. 
taken prisoner. The unfortunate monarch wrote to 
his mother the melancholy news of his captivity, 
couched in these dignified and expressive terms, 
Tout est perdu Madame; hormis Vhonneur. All 
is lost but our honour. 

Let us sanctify this idea, by applying it to the 
Christian. He is ever to remember that whatever 
loss he sustains, it is incumbent on him to keep up 
the dignity of his character. Even trifling things as 
they are called by some, he must watch against. 
What may be winked at in others will not be suffered 
to pass in him. When Darius, king of Persia, offered 
Alexander all the country which lies at the west of 
the Euphrates, with his daughter Statira in marriage, 
and 10,000 talents of gold, Parmenio took occasion 
to observe, that he would without hesitation accept 
of these conditions, if he were Alexander. So would 
I, were I Parmenio, replied the conqueror. Thus 
a Christian must not accept of any propositions made 
by the world beneath the dignity of his character; 
but must right the good fight of faith. 
D3 



64 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR, 

To have all speak well of us, indeed, is not possi- 
ble, Antisthenes, when he heard seme unworthy 
men commend him, said, I fear I have done some 
evil that I know not of." And another used to say, 
" Would we know a man, we should observe the life 
of him that praises him." Rarely will one praise 
him that takes a contrary course to himself. But 
this should be the care of the best to keep himself 
from being spoken of reproachfully and truly at the 
same time by the worst. Should we not always suc- 
ceed in our object, it is well when we can preserve 
our characters from blame. 



February 25. 

Delt. xxxii. 0. Do ye thus requite the Lord, O foolish 
people and unwise. Is not he thy father that hath bought 
thee, hath he not made thee and established thee ? 

Sir Christopher Wren died, 1723, in the 91st 
year of his age. He erected a greater number of 
magnificent buildings than any other man. Among 
these are, St. Stephen's, Walbrook, the Monument, 
and St. Paul's cathedral. Ingratitude, however, it 
seems was shewn towards him, for notwithstanding 
his extraordinary merit, he was turned out of his 
office as surveyor geueral of the works, at the age of 
86, in order to make room for another man who bad 
better court interest, but who was an arraut block- 
head, and was afterwards dismissed for incapacity. 
Let us from this instance derive a useful lesson for 
ourselves. The passage above places before us the 
conduct of the Jews, in which as in a glass we may 
behold our own. How great was their insensibility, 
and how affecting their ingratitude. Though more 
highly favoured than all other nations, yet how un* 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 55 

mindful of the Rock of their salvation ! What a 
melting reproof is here. What an affectionate appeal 
to their feelings. A father, a tender father, a liberal 
father, yet forgotten ! When the Tribunes shewed 
their disrespect to Scipio, he quelled their seditions, 
and reproaching them for their cowardice, exclaimed, 
" Do you think that your clamours can intimidate 
me ; me, whom the fury of your enemies never 
daunted. Is this the gratitude that you owe to my 
father Paulus, who conquered Macedonia; and to 
me? Without my family you were slaves. Is this 
the respect yon owe to your deliverers? Is this 
your affection V How much more may our best 
benefactor say to us, in beholding our disobedience 
to him. Is this the way in which I am to be re- 
quited ? Is this thy kindness to thy friend ? Is this 
a proof of affection? Go and weep over your in- 
gratitude and sin no more. 



February 26. 

Psalm cxix. 111. Thy testimonies have I taken as a heritage 
for ever, for they are the rejoicing of my heart. 

The Rev. James Hervey was born, 1713-14. He 
was eminently distinguished for his piety, writings, 
and benevolence. He was ardently attached to the 
sacred scriptures. "Were I to enjoy Hezekiah's 
grant/' says he, " and have 15 years added to my 
life, I would be much more frequent in my applica- 
tions to a throne of grace. We sustain a mighty 
loss by reading so much, and praying so little. 
Were 1 to renew my studies, I would take my leave 
of these accomplished trifles, the historians, the 
orators, the poets of antiquity, and devote my atten- 
tion to the scriptures of truth, 1 would sit with 
D 4 



56 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

much greater assiduity at my divine master's feet, 
and desire to know nothing but Jesus Christ and him 
crucified ! This wisdom, whose fruits are peace in 
life, consolation in death, and everlasting salvation 
after death,— this I would trace, this 1 would seek, 
this I would explore, through the spacious and de- 
lightful fields of the Old and New Testament." He 
died Dec. 25, 1758. 



February 27. 

Job xxviii. 28. And unto man he said, Behold the fear of 
the Lord that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is under- 
standing. 

Prov, iii. 18. She is a tree of life to (hem that lay hold upon 
her. 

John Evelyn, Esq. died in the year 1706, 
He was interred at Wotton in Surry, under a tomb 
of about three feet high of freestone, shaped like a 
coffin, with an inscription on the marble with which 
it is covered, expressing, according to his own in- 
tention, that " Living in an age of extraordinary 
events and revolutions, he had learned from thence 
this truth, which he desired might be thus communi- 
cated to posterity : That all is vanity which is not 
honest 9 and that thei % e is no solid wisdom but in 
real piety. He wrote a book in titled Sylva, or a 
Discourse of Forest Trees, which was well received. 
In the concluding part of this work he exclaims, 
with somewhat of the quaintness of the times, but 
with a seriousness which shews that his favourite 
pursuit did not lead his heart astray. " Let us no 
more admire the enormous motes and bridges of 
Caligula across to Baiae ; or that of Trajan over the 
Danube (stupendous work of stone and marble) to 
the adverse shores, whilst our timber and our trees 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 57 

making us bridges to the furthest Indies and the anti- 
podes, land us into new worlds. In a word (and to 
speak a bold and noble truth) trees and woods have 
twice saved the whole world ; first by the ark, then 
by the cross ; making full amends for the evil fruit 
of the tree in paradise, by that which was borne on 
the tree in Golgotha." 



February 28. 

Acts vii. 59. Lord Jesus receive my spirit. 

Mr. Patrick Hamilton, the first Scotch Re- 
former, burnt, 1527. At the place of execution, he 
gave his servant who had long attended him, his 
gown, coat, and cap, and his other garments, saying, 
'■ These are the last things you can receive of me, 
nor have I now any thing to leave you but the ex- 
ample of ray death, which I pray you to bear in 
mind ; for though it be bitter to the flesh, and fearful 
before men, yet it is the entrance into eternal life, 
which none shall inherit who deny Jesus Christ be- 
fore this wicked generation." He was then bound to 
the stake in the midst of wood and coal, which they 
attempted to set on fire with gunpowder; but it 
neither killed him nor kindled the fire, only exceed- 
ingly scorched one side of his body and face. During 
the painful interval of their going to the castle for 
more powder and combustibles, the friars called fre- 
quently upon him to recant ; and when the fire was 
kindled, it burnt so slowly, that he endured great 
torment, which the friars endeavoured to increase by 
setting some of their own creatures to cry out in a 
clamorous manner, "Turn thou heretic, pray to the 
virgin, say, salve regina, &c." to whom he answered, 
" Depart from me and trouble me not, you raessen- 
D 5 



58 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR 

gers of Satan." His last words were, " How long, 
O Lord, shall darkness overwhelm this realm? and 
how long wilt t hou suffer the tyranny of these wicked 
men V And at length, with a loud voice, he cried, as 
he had frequently done, " Lord Jesus, receive my 
spirit !" and died. 



February 29. 

Daniel iii. 18. We will not serve thy gods, nor worship the 
golden image thou hast set up. 

Such was the magnanimous language of these cele- 
brated heroes. But grace inspires the same senti- 
ments wherever it operates. Auxensius was a great 
commander under the Emperor Lycinius. Lyciuius 
came one day into the court of his palace, where 
there was a great bath, and some vines growing about 
it, with the image of Bacchus set up among the vines. 
The emperor commanded Auxensius to draw his 
sword and cut off a bunch of grapes, which as soon 
as he had done, he ordered him to offer it at the feet 
of Bacchus, which was as much as to acknowledge 
him to be a god. Auxensius answered, " I am a 
Christian, I will not do it." " What, not do it at 
my command," saith the emperor, -" then you must 
quit your place." "With all my heart, Sir," said 
the christian soldier, and in token of it, put off his 
belt (which was the same as giving up his com- 
mission), and departed rejoicing that he was enabled 
to withstand the temptation. Christian, are you 
called to witness for Christ, remember he hath said, 
"My grace is sufficient." 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. b§ 



March 1. 

Matt. v. 9. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be 
called the children of God. 

Tt would be very desirable to follow the example 
of the excellent Dr. Cotton Mather, who formed 
a society of peacemakers, whose professed business 
it was to compose differences, and prevent law suits. 
It was his laudable ambition to be able to say, * He 
did not know of any person in the world who had 
done him any ill office, but he had done him a good 
one for it." The Greeks, had their a^r/a, whereby 
they took an order that all old wrongs and injuries 
should be buried and forgotten amongst them. The 
primitive Christians had their Aya™, their love-feasts 
for the like purpose. In this, therefore, let us set 
good examples in our own lives, lest it be objected to 
us as it was to Philip, who offering himself as an 
umpire to another nation, was desired to make peace 
at home first, settle his own state and family better, 
and then he would be able to manage others. It is 
indeed somewhat difficult to mediate between oppo- 
site parties. A man is sure to be censured ; and 
like one that interposes between two in a fray, is 
likely to receive blows from both, and of two friends 
lose one at least, or perhaps both. But this must 
not dishearten us in the work, since God will esteem 
such his children, and the Saviour hath pronounced 
them blessed. 



D 



60 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 






March 2. 

Phil. i. 27. Striving together for the faith of the gospel. 

The Rev. John Wesley died, 1791. in his 88th 
year. Mr. Wesley's zeal, labours, and success are 
known too well to be detailed here. He was formed 
for a public sphere. A state of retirement is un- 
doubtedly profitable for the cultivation of secret 
worship ; but we are not commanded to live in this 
state, but to let our light shine; and to engage with 
others for the good of our fellow creatures and the 
glory of God. Union is power. Two are better 
than one. By the well-directed energies of societies, 
wonders are and have been done. A serious man, 
whom Mr. Wesley had travelled many miles to see, 
said to him, " Sir, you wish to serve God and go to 
heaven, remember you cannot serve him alone. You 
must therefore find companions or make them ; the 
Bible knows nothing of solitary religion." It has 
been observed, that a sentiment boldly conceived 
and happily expressed, may overturn an empire. So 
this sentiment has created not merely a religious 
sect, but several hosts, which have given to the moral 
world an impulse that has been felt to the antipodes* 



March 3. 

1 Thess. iv. 14. Them also which sleep in Jesus will God 
bring with him. 

What a fine and pleasant idea doth this afford us of 
the exit of a believer. Death to him is only a sleep ; 
a sleep in the arms of his Redeemer. 

Francis I. of France died, 1547. It is reported 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. £1 

as a matter of great honour to the celebrated painter 
Leonardo da vinci, that he expired in the arms of 
Francis I. who came to pay him a visit in his last 
illness. " People who are struck with the puny 
grandeur of this world, and other little circumstances 
of rank and riches among mortals, are mightily taken 
with incidents of this kind, but when the affair is 
duly examined, it is generally because they see ob- 
jects through a corrupt medium, and have so much 
of that taste which savoureth not the things that be 
of God, but the things that be of men. The eye 
which is enlightened by divine grace sees infinitely 
more glory in the last hours of a true Christian de- 
parting in a cottage with the triumphs of faith in his 
soul, than in all that could be derived from the most 
condescending attentions of the greatest princes in 
the world; these are mortal like all other men, and 
can yield no more than kind expressions of benevo- 
lence, even where they are sincere: but the believer 
in Jesus hath the God of heaven and earth bestowing 
real blessings while he lays upon his couch, and (to 
use the emphatic expression of the Psalmist) making 
all his bed in his sickness. He gloriously expires in 
the bosom of his Redeemer, and is carried to the 
blissful habitation of the saints in light." 



March 4. 

* Mark iv. 2£. Unto you that hear shall more be given. 

The Rev. Arthur Hildersham died, 1631, 
He was deprived and silenced by the Bishop of 
Lincoln for refusal of subscription and conformity, 
He was very charitable to the poor, and excited 
others to contribute to their relief. In few country 
congregations in England the collections for the poos 



62 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

were so large as they were on the quarter days of 
his lectures. His conduct was a practical exposition 
of the above text. He was always a diligent fre- 
quenter of the public assemblies, whether he was in 
the city or the country. He so highly prized the 
ministry of the word, that he would often say, " He 
never heard any godly minister preach, though but 
of weak parts, but he got some benefit by him." 



March 5. 



Acts xi. 24. For he was a good man. 

Bishop Beveridge died 1707. To few men 
could the above words be better applied than to 
him. He was so laborious and successful, that he 
was stiied " the great reviver and restorer of primi- 
tive piety/' He was much celebrated also for his 
learning, which he wholly applied to promote the 
interest of his great Master. He was well skilled 
in the oriental languages and Jewish learning. Even 
so early as eighteen, he wrote a Treatise on the 
Excellency and Use of the Hebrew, Chaldee, Syriac, 
Arabic, and Samaritan tongues; with a Syriac 
Grammar. He was so highly esteemed among all 
learned and good men, that when he was dying, one 
of the chief of his order deservedly said of him. 
" There goes one of the greatest and one of the best 
> len that ever England bred." 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR, G3 

March 6. 

Ezek. xlv f 9. Execute judgment and justice. 

Lord Chief Justice Holt died, 1709, or as 
gome say, 1710. He was in great repute for steadi- 
ness, integrity, and thorough knowledge in his pro- 
fession. In the reign of James II. he was recorder 
of London ; but lost his place for refusing to ex- 
pound the law suitably to the King's designs. He 
continued chief justice for 22 years. Upon great 
occasions he asserted the law with intrepidity, though 
he thereby ventured to incur by turns the indigna- 
tion of both the houses of Parliament. It is well, 
when it can be said of judges, as it was of Paterculus 
a Roman, that a man might as soon put the sun out 
of his course as move him to pervert justice. 

When the son of Henry IV. was committed to 
prison for striking the judge on the bench, the King 
no sooner heard of it, than he cried out in a transport 
°f joy, " Happy is the king who has a magistrate 
possessed of courage to execute the laws, and still 
more happy in having a son who will submit to such 
chastisement." 



March 7. 

Hosea viii. 12. I have written to him the great things of my 
law, but they were counted as a strange thing. 

\ Sam. iii. 1. The word of the Lord was precious in those 
days. 

Acts xi*. 20. So mightily grew the word of God and pre- 
vailed. 

The British and Foreign Bible Society 
formed, 1804, Of all societies this seems to be one 



G4 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

of the most necessary and useful. The patronage it 
has received, the success it has met with, are un- 
paralleled in the annals of religion. How different 
the scene now to what it was ahout the beginning of 
the sixteenth century. The ignorance of the priests 
at that time was extreme. Numbers could not read ; 
most only muttered mass in an unknown tongue, and 
read a legend on- festivals ; and the very best seldom 
saw the Bible! It was held by many that the doc- 
trines of religion were so properly expressed by 
schoolmen, that there was no need to read scripture. 
One of eminence was asked, what were the Ten 
Commandments, and he replied, there was no such 
book in the library I Many doctors of the Sorbonne 
declared and confirmed it by an oath, that though 
they were above 50 years of age, yet they bad never 
known what a New Testament was. Luther never 
saw a Bible till after he was 21 years of age, and 
had taken a degree of arts. Carolstadt had been a 
doctor of divinity eight years before he read the 
Scriptures ; and yet when he stood for a degree in 
the university of Wirtemberg, he obtained an honour, 
and it was entered in the university records, that he 
was sufficientissimus. Pellican could not procure 
one Greek Testament in all Germany ; the first he 
got was from Italy. Bishop Stillingfleet mentions 
that there was scarcely another copy of the Greek 
Testament to be found in all Germany except that 
in the possession of Erasmus ; .that his utmost dili- 
gence to procure a complete copy from which to 
make his translation was unavailing* and that when 
his translation appeared, it was seriously accused by 
many ecclesiastics with being a forgery intended to 
ruin their order. I thank God, said a bishop who 
lived before the Reformation, that I have lived well 
these many years, and never knew the Old or New 
Testament. 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. to 

Happy for us, this darkness is past away, and the 
word of God has free course. The world is fast 
filling with Bibles. The concurrence of circum- 
stances for their translation and dispersion, and the 
invention of a new and compendious mode of educa- 
tion applicable to every nation under heaven ; to- 
gether with the number of missionaries and teachers 
employed by different societies ; form a most pleasing 
appearance. In looking back but a few years, we 
may well say, What hath God wrought! But these 
are but the beginning of things. The sun of divine 
truth is risen. The distant lands catch already its 
glad beams. With majestic dignity shall it still go 
forth, untill all nations shall behold its glory ; and 
the shades of ignorance, superstition, and folly, be 
dispersed to return no more. 



3Iarch 8. 



Phil. i. 21, 22, For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 
But if I live in the ftesh, this is the fruit of my labour ; yet 
v, hat I shall choose I wot not. 

The Rev. William Tennent, an American 
divine, died, 1777, aged 72. The following is a 
suitable illustration of the text for this day. 

When Mr. Whitfield was last in America, Mr, 
Tennent paid him a visit, as he was passing through 
New Jersey ; and one day dined, with other minis- 
ter's, at a gentleman's house. After dinner Mr. W. 
adverted to the difficulties attending the gospel- 
ministry; lamented that all their zeal availed but 
little; said that he was weary with the burdens of 
the day; declared the great consolation that in a 
short time his work would be done, when he should 
depart and be with Christ; he then appealed to tte 



66 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

ministers if it was. not their great comfort that they 
should go to rest. They generally assented, except 
Mr. T. who sat next to Mr. W. in silence; and by 
his countenance discovered but little pleasure in the 
conversation. On which Mr. W. tapping him on the 
knee, said, " Well, brother Tennent, you are the 
oldest man among us, do you not rejoice to think 
that your time is so near at hand, when you will be 
called home]" Mr. T. bluntly answered, " 1 have 
no wish about it" Mr. W. pressed him again ; 
Mr. T. again answered, " No, Sir, it is no pleasure 
to me at all; and if you knew your duty, it would 
be none to you, I have nothing to do with, death, 
my business is to live as long as I can—as well as I 
can — and to serve my Master as faithfully as I can, 
until heshall think proper to call me home." Mr. 
W. still urged for an explicit answer to his question, 
in case the time of death were left to his own choice. 
Mr. T. replied, " I have no choice about it ; I am 
God's servant, and have engaged to do his business 
as long as he pleases to continue me therein. But 
now, Brother, let me ask you a questiou. What do 
you think I would say, if I was to send my man into 
the field to plow; and if at noon I should go to the 
field and find him lounging under a tree, and com- 
plaining, " Master, the sun is very hot, and the 
plowing hard, I am weary of the work you Jiave ap- 
pointed me, and am overdone with the heat and 
burden of the day. Do, master, let me return home, 
and be discharged from this hard service? — what 
would I say ? why that he was a lazy fellow, that it 
was his business to do the work that I had appointed 
him, until I should think fit to call him home." The 
pleasant manner in which this reproof was adminis- 
tered rather increased the social harmony of the 
company; who became satisfied that it was very 
possible to err, even in desiring with undue earnest- 
ness " to depart and be with Christ, which in itself 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. W 

is far better" than to remain in this imperfect state, 
and that it is the duty of the Christian in this respect 
to say, "All the days of my appointed time will I 
wait till my change come/' 



March 9. 



John ix. 34. Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost 
thou teach us ? And they cast him out. 

Six Students, of the names of Skipman, Key* 
Matthews, Grove, Middleton, and Jones, were ex- 
pelled the University of Oxford, 1768. There will 
be few of my readers, perhaps, but what have heard 
of this circumstance ; but if any have not, they will 
naturally ask, for what crime were they expelled, 
Then, gentle reader, i have to inform you, it was for 
praying, reading and expounding the Scriptures in a 

private house. Mr. defended their doctrines 

from the Thirty-nine Articles of the Established 
Church, and spoke in the highest terms of the piety 
and exemplariness of their lives ; but his motion was 
overruled, and sentence pronounced against them. 
Dr. — — one of the Heads of Houses present, ob- 
served, that as these six gentlemen were expelled for 
having too much religion, it would be very proper to 
inquire into the conduct of some who had too little. 
What a state must religion have been in at Oxford, 
that out of so many hundred students, only six 
should be found guilty of such a pretended crime, 



(38 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR, 



March 10. 

Job xix. 27. Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes 
shall behold. 

Dr. Du Moulin died, 1658. He was a cele- 
brated French protectant minister. Through his 
whole life he was much in prayer and meditation. The 
following is a specimen of his pious exercises. 

" Thou knowest, Lord, that in sincerity, and with- 
out guile, I humble myself before thy face. I am a 
miserable sinner, and could not dare to lift up my 
eyes towards thee, did I not trust both in thy com- 
mandment and promise. Such as labour under a 
sense of their miseries, are those whom thou callest; 
for thou sayest, Come unto me, all ye that labour 
and are heavy laden, and. I will give you rest. O 
then let me come to thee. Praw me, O Lord, that 
I may run after tbee. I am tired ; I am quite weary 
of being absent from my God." 

For the last six days of his illness, he was mostly 
in slumbers; against which he much strove, and 
said, Rouse me, I should now watch. 'Tis now no 
time to sleep, but to die. Watch and pray, said my 
Saviour, lest ye enter into temptation. O great 
God, abandon me. not to my infirmities; but so 
preserve and keep my spirit, that I may glorify thee 
when I am dying." He often said, lifting up his 
eyes and hands, "Lord be merciful to me; be gra- 
cious to me." 

After which, one who attended him said, " Sir 
you will see the Redeemer with your own eyes." 
" I believe it," and these were the last intelligible 
words he uttered. A few minutes after he expired, 
and left on his countenance the features of joy. 
Thus was he enabled through grace to appropriate 
ihe above words of holy Job to himself. 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 69 

Flavel, in his Mystery of Providence has this 
anecdote of him. Weak and improbable means, he 
observes, have been blessed with success to the 
church in general, and to the preservation of its 
particular members also. A spider, by weaving her 
web over the mouth jof an oven, hid Du Moulin from 
his enemies, who took refuge there hi the bloody 
Parisian massacre. 



March 11. 

Matt. xv. 6. Ye have made the commandments of God of 
none effect by your traditions. 

Hospinian, a learned Swiss writer, died, 1626, 
aged 76. The great work he was engaged in, was a 
History of the Errors of Popery. He considered 
that the Papists, when defeated by the holy Scrip- 
tures, had recourse to tradition ; were for ever boast- 
ing of their antiquity, and despised the Protestants 
for being modern. To deprive them of this plea, 
Hospinian was determine*} to search into the rise and 
progress of 1he popish rites and ceremonies ; and to 
examine by what gradations the truth which had 
been taught by Christ and hrs apostles had given 
way to innovations. The circumstance which first 
suggested this thought was, his falling accidently into 
conversation with a landlord of a country ale-house, 
who was so silly as to imagine that the monastic life 
was immediately from Paradise. His work gained 
him great reputation and preferment. He was de- 
prived of his sight for near a year, yet he continued 
to preach as usual, and was happily couched in 1613, 
He died as above stated in a good old age. 



70 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 



March 12. 

2 Cor. ix. 8. God is able to make all grace abound towards 
you. 

Professor Frank born, 1663. This eminent 
man was particularly distinguished for his faith and 
charity. It was his custom to give away bread to 
the poor every Thursday. A sight of their gross 
ignorance so excited compassion for their souls, that 
he began t o instruct them in the principles of the 
christian religion. He bought an alms box, and 
caused it to be handed about every week to well- 
disposed persons. By this method, in a week's time, 
he raised two shillings. The hox proved a burden 
to some ; and he collected so little, that it would not 
countervail the pains taken. He laid this quite aside, 
and fixed a box in his own parlour, in the beginning 
of the year 1695. One day taking the Bible in his 
hand, he happened to open it upon the passage above 
mentioned : " God is able to make all grace abound 
towards you." He was greatly encouraged in the 
success of a project for the relief of a poor man and 
his family. A quarter of a year after the box was 
set up, a person put in the value of 18s. 6d. The 
Professor took this into his hands, in the full assur- 
ance of faith, as a fund for the relief of the poor. 
He laid out eight shillings in books : engaged a poor 
student to teach the children: but they took the 
books, and ran away with them. He then resolved 
upon a charity school. In the summer, 1695, he 
received a present of five hundred crowns for the use 
of the poor. In the same summer, one hundred 
crowns were sent in. Four orphans were presented 
to him for relief. He ventured, in the name of 
God, to take them all four. This was the beginning 
of the hospital, without any settled fund ; and the 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. «?1 

number of orphans, by the 16th of November, 
amounted to nine. They were instructed by a 
student of divinity, whose name was George Henry 
Newbauer. A person of distinction sent in a thou- 
sand crowns. Another person of eminence sent in 
three hundred crowns. In Sept. 1696, two tables 
for poor students were set up. A house was bought 
for three hundred crowns. A project was set on foot 
to teach Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, in 1699. An- 
other house, called the Golden Eagle, was bought by 
the Professor, for the sum of 1960 crowns, or £487. 
July 5, 1698, they began to break ground; and on 
the 13th of the same month, a foundation of an 
hospital was laid in the name of God, upon whom he 
had to depend for every supply. His first design 
was only to erect a timber house ; but having bought 
a small farm, there was found in the garden a rock,, 
which afforded such stones as were fit for raising up 
a wall. The King of Prussia, Elector of Branden- 
burgh, furnished him with 100,000 bricks and 30,000 
tiles. In Sept. 1698, the Elector of Brandenburgh 
provided the hospital with a charter, which he afters 
wards amplified and confirmed. 

Thus the cities of Halle and Glauche received 
great advantages. There were so many singular 
providences relative to this work, that we must refer 
the reader to his piece on the subject, called the 
Footsteps of Divine Providence, well worthy of every 
one's perusal. 



March 13. 



Psalm xix. 1. Ttie heavens declare the glory of God, and 
the firmament sheweth his handy work. 

Dr. Herschel discovered a new planet, which 
he called, in compliment to the King, Georgiuna 



m PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

Sidus, or the Georgian Planet. Saturn, whose dis= 
tance from the sun is upward t)f nine hundred 
millions of miles, was thought the remotest planet, 
until the Georgiurn Sidus was discovered, whose 
distance is eighteen thousand millions of miles, and 
its magnitude eighty-rime times greater than our 
earth. Yet the sun, with all the planets, form but a 
small part of this immense fabric. The fixed stars 
are supposed to be suns like our own, but their 
distance hides their glory. A cannon ball, supposing 
it always to preserve the same degree of swiftness, 
-would scarce, at the end of six hundred thousand 
y^ars, reach the star nearest to our earth. O Lord, 
how wonderful, how manifold are the works of thine 
hands, in wisdom hast thou made them all. 



March 14. 

Job xxvi.7. He hangeth the earth hpon nothing. 

Expired at Bath, 1799, in his 89th year, that 
elegant scholar and polite writer, William Mel- 
moth. He was the son of the author of a popular 
work, intitled, "The Great Importance of a Pteli- 
gioas Life." He was the writer of Fitzosborne's 
Letters; in which he gives us an illustration of the 
above passage. " The grand principle which pre- 
serves this system of the universe in all its harmoni- 
ous order, is gravity, or that property by which all 
the particles of matter mutually tend to each other. 
Now this is a power, which, it is acknowledged, does 
not essentially reside in matter, but must be ulti- 
mately derived from the action of some immaterial 
cause. Why, therefore, may it not reasonably be 
supposed to be the effect of the divine agency, im- 
mediately and constantly operating for the preserva ' 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 73 

tion of this wonderful machine of nature 1 Certain, 
at least, it is, that the explication which Sir Isaac 
Newton has endeavoured to give of this wonderful 
phenomenon, by means of this subtile ether, has not 
afforded universal satisfaction ; and it is the opinion 
of a great writer, who seems to have gone far into in- 
quiries of this abstruse kind, that the numberless 
effects of this power are inexplicable upon mechanical 
principles, or in any other way than by having re- 
course to a spiritual agent, who connects, moves, and 
disposes all things according to such methods as best 
comport with his incomprehensible purposes." 



March 15. 

Psalm cxlvi. 3,4. Put not your trust in princes, nor in the 
son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth 
forth, he returneth to his earth j in that very day his 
thoughts perish. 

Cesar assassinated, B, C. 44. 

The above passage, as the historian observes, was 
verified in Julius Caesar. After his assuming the im- 
perial dignity, he thought to reduce the numerous 
laws of the Romans into a few volumes, comprising 
the substance and reason of all ; to enrich and adorn 
the city of Rome, as was becoming the Regent of the 
world ; to epitomize the works of the most learned 
Grecians and Romans for the public benefit. And 
whilst he was designing and pursuing these and other 
vast and noble things, death surprised him, and broke 
off all his enterprises. 

Caesar had a letter given him by Artimedorus the 

morning he went to the senate, wlierein notice was 

given him of all the conspiracy of his murderers ; to 

that with ease he might have prevented his death : 

E 



74 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR, 

but neglecting the reading of it, he was slain. What 
can be done to-day^ therefore, delay not till to- 
morrow. 



March 16. 

2 Kings viii. 13. And Hazael said, But what is thy servarrl 
a dog, that he should do this great thing ? 

Tiberius the emperor died, A. D. 37. 

There are seeds, says Saurin, of some passions, 
which remain, as it were, buried, during the first 
years of life, and which vegetate only in mature age. 
There are virtues which some men would have 
practised till death, had their condition been always 
the same. It is said of Tiberius, that whilst Augustus 
ruled, he was no way tainted in his reputation, and 
while Drusus and Germanicus were alive, he endea- 
voured to maintain a good opinion of himself in the 
hearts of his people ; but after he had got beyond 
the reach of control, he did nothing but what was 
faulty, and there was no crime to which he was not 
accessary. So of Valerian the emperor it is said, he 
was formerly distinguished for his temperance, mo- 
deration, and many virtues, which fixed the unin- 
fluenced choice of all Rome Upon him ; but when he 
was invested with the purple, he displayed inability, 
meanness, cowardice, and seldom acted with any 
prudence. So dangerous is prosperity ! 

" No man (says Bishop Taylor) is discerned to be 
vicious so soon as he is so, for vices have their in- 
fancy and their childhood ; and it cannot be ex- 
pected, that in a child's age there should be the vice 
of a -man ; that were monstrous as if he wore a beard 
in his cradle ; and we do not believe that a serpent's 
sting does just then grow when he strikes us in a vital 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR, 76 

part ; the venom and the little spear were there when 
it first began to creep from its little shell. 

" He that means to be temperate, and avoid the 
crime and dishonour of being a drunkard, must not 
love to partake of the songs, or to bear a part in the 
foolish scenes of laughter, which distract wisdom, 
and fright her from the company. Lavina, that was 
chaster than the elder Sabines, and severer than her 
philosophical guardian, was well instructed in the 
great lines of honour and cold justice to her hus- 
band ; but when she gave way to the wanton oint- 
ments, and looser circumstances of the Baias, and 
bathed often in Avernus, and from thence hurried to 
to the companies aud dressings of Lucrinus, she 
quenched her honour, and gave her virtue and her 
body as a spoil to the follies and intemperance of a 
young gentleman. For so have I seen the little 
pearls of a spring sweat through the bottom of a 
bank, and penetrate the stubborn pavement, till it 
hath made it fit for the impression of a child's foot, 
and it was despised like the descending pearls of a 
misty morning, till it had opened the way, and made 
a stream large enough to carry away the ruins of the 
undermined strand, and to invade the neighbouring 
gardens: but then the despised drops were grown 
into an artificial river, and an intolerable mischief. 
So are the first entrances of sin, stopped with the 
antidotes of a hearty prayer, and checked into so- 
briety by the eye of a reverend man, or the counsels 
of a single sermon: but when such beginnings are 
neglected, and our religion hath not in it so muck 
philosophy as to think any thing evil so long as we 
can endure it, they grow up to ulcers and pestilential 
evils ; they destroy the soul by their abode ; who at 
their first entry might have been killed with the 
pressure of a little finger." 






E 2 



76 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 



March 17. 

Psalm Ixxxviii. 6. Thou hast laid me in the kwest pit, *iis 
darkness, in the deeps* 

The Rev. Mr. Newnham lost his life, 1775, 
He went, in company with another gentleman, his 
sister, and a lady who was the object of his fondest 
affection, to explore the depth of Pen Park Hole, 
a tremendous abyss a few miles from Bristol. Mr. N. 
having lowered a line for this purpose, in order to 
support himself with more security, laid hold of a 
twig shooting from the root of an adjacent ash ; but 
at this instant, his foot slipping, the faithless scion 
gave way, and he was precipitated into the horrible 
gulf, in the sight of his astonished and agonized 
friends. Thirty-nine days after, his body was found 
floating in the water. It is remarkable, that this 
unfortunate gentleman had officiated that very morn- 
ing at Clifton church, and read the above-mentioned 
words, so descriptive of his end : " Thou hast laid 
me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps." 

Another dreadful event took place on this day, in 
the year 1800. The Queen Charlotte, a British ship 
of war, of 110 guns, was blown up off the harbour of 
Leghorn, when the commander, Captain Todd, and 
above 800 of the crew perished. How uncertain is 
human life ; and whether on land or sea, how neceS* 
aary to be prepared to meet our God* 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 77 



March 18, 

Gen. xviii. 3. If now I have found favour in thy sight, pass 

not away. 
Psalm xxx. 5. In his favour is life, 

Although we ought to be thankful for the bounties 
of Divine Providence, yet the approbation of God is 
of more consequence than the enjoyment of any 
temporal mercies. It was the saying of a wise 
Roman, " I had rather have the esteem of the 
Emperor Augustus than his gifts:*' for he was an 
understanding prince, and his favour very. honour- 
able. When Cyrus gave one of his friends a kiss, 
and another a wedge of gold, he that had the gold 
envied him that had the kiss as a greater expression 
of his favour. So the true Christian prefers the 
privilege of acceptance with God to the possession 
of any earthly comfort, for in the light of his coun- 
tenance is life, and his favour is as the cloud of the 
latter rain. 



March 19. 



Psalm civ. 19. He appoinieth the moon for seasons. 
viii.3. When I consider the moon. 

On this day happened the first eclipse of the moon 
of which we have any account upon record, 720, B. C. 
The wisdom, power, and goodness of the Almighty- 
are wonderfully displayed in the formation of this 
secondary planet. The diameter of the moon is 
about 2180 miles. Her distance from us about 
240,000 miles. She goes round her orbit in 27 
E 3 



76 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

days, 7 hours, and 43 minutes, moving about 2200 
miles every hour, and turns round her axis exactly 
in the time that she goes round the earth, which is 
the reason of her keeping always the same side to- 
wards us. Ker day and night, taken together, are 
as long as our lunar month. Of its great utility to 
man we need not here enlarge. To the shepherd, 
the traveller, the mariner, how welcome! It sways 
the ocean, swells the tides, and perpetuates the reci- 
procal returns of ebb and flow. The eclipse of the 
moon is occasioned by a diametrical opposition of 
the earth between it and the sun, and can only 
happen when the moon is at the full. The Jews not 
being acquainted with the physical cause of eclipses, 
looked upon them, whether of sun or moon, as signs 
of the divine displeasure. The Athenian army, 
nnder Niceas, when they were about to withdraw 
secretly from Sicily, seeing the moon suddenly 
eclipsed, refused to embark, and which proved fatal 
to them, as they were all shortly afterwards slain or 
taken prisoners. In the contemplation of this hea- 
venly body, let us admire the wisdom of its Creator, 
and learn a moral lesson for ourselves. The moon 
has no natural light but what is derived from the 
sun, nor man any spiritual but what flows from the 
Sun of Righteousness. Though subject to many 
changes, yet it performs its course with order and 
steadfastness ; so, under all the vicissitudes of life, 
let us learn to be obedient to the will of our Creator. 
Does it assist the weary traveller, or the mariner tost 
on the tempestuous ocean, let us, in the dark night 
of this world, reflect all the light we can for the 
benefit of others. Is its glory apparently lost for a 
season during an eclipse by the earth, let us, under 
every opposition from the world, anticipate the season 
when we shall shine forth for ever in the kingdom oi 
our heavenly Father above. 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 79 



March 20. 



es. i, 18. For in much wisdom there is much grief; and 
he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow. 



Sir Isaac Newton died, 1727. The above 
passage is not chosen with a design to pour con- 
tempt on the philosophy of this great man ; but that 
there is much truth in it will appear, if we consider 
the vexation of obtaining, and the difficulty of 
keeping human knowledge. The tree of knowledge 
cannot be ascended without considerable labour. 
The fruit, when gathered, though perhaps sweet at 
ftrst, is not without its attendants, anxiety and care ; 
nay, too often is it an occasion of pride and conse- 
quence. Prometheus, according to the fable, was 
the great inventor of arts and philosophy, is repre- 
sented as having an eagle or vulture perpetually 
gnawing his liver, to denote those continual cares and 
anxieties of mind which knowing and inquisitive men 
are exposed to. The loss of what we once obtained 
is also a source of vexation. Sir Isaac lost the use 
of his intellects before his animal frame was arrested 
by the hand of death. So it is said of a Mr. Swissef, 
a man of profound learning, of whom Scaliger said 
that his abilities were almost superhuman ; that being- 
grown old, he often wept because he was not able to 
understand the books which he had written in his 
younger days. Corvinus, an excellent orator in the 
Augustan age, distinguished for integrity and patriot- 
ism, in his old age became so forgetful as not even to 
know his own name. Simon Tournay, in 1201, after 
he had outdone all at Oxford for learning, and be- 
came so eminent at Paris, as to be made the Chief 
Doctor of the Sor bonne, at last grew such an idiot as 
not to know one letter in a book, or one thing he had 
E 4 



80 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

ever done. Let us, without decrying human know- 
ledge, learn then to seek that wisdom which is 
divine ; that knowledge which shall not decay ; that 
one thing needful, that good part which shall never 
be taken from us. 



March 21. 



Prov. xx. 9. Who can say, I have made my heart clean 5 I 
am pure from my sin. 

Archbishop Usher died, 1655-6. 

Bring me a man, said one, that hath really arrived 
to sinless perfection, and I will pay his expenses, let 
him come from where he will. Some, however, have 
such exalted views of themselves, that they are blind 
to their own imperfections. Hence it is said of the 
famous Cardinal Bellarmine, that when the priest 
(according to' the Romish custom) came to absolve 
him, he could not remember any particular sin to 
confess, till he went back in his thoughts as far as 
his youth. If this were so, we must be bold to say, 
that whatever acquaintance this learned man had 
with books, he had but little with his own heart. 
For what Christian is there that advances in the 
knowledge of God, but what sees more of the sin- 
fulness of his own heart every day ; and even at the 
last must say, (£ God be merciful to me a sinner." 

How different were the views of Archbishop Usher, 
who often used to say that he hoped to die with the 
above-mentioned language of the Publican in his 
mouth ; and his biographer tells us his wish was in 
a great measure fulfilled, for he died saying, " Q 
Lord, forgive me, especially my sins of omission/' 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR, 81 



March 22. 

Gal. iv. 16. Am I therefore become your enemy because I 
tell you the truth. 

Doctor Jonathan Edwards died of the 
small pox, at Prince Town, America. He was one 
of the most laborious, able, learned, and deep divines 
America ever produced. His works are well known 
in this country. A circumstance took place in his 
life, which rendered him like the great apostle who 
uttered the above words ; and we have, says his 
biographer, with respect to this, an instructive lesson 
on the instability of ail human affairs, and the un- 
reasonableness of trusting in man. Some young 
persons of his flock had procured some obscene 
publications, which they commented upon among 
themselves for their own improvement in lascivious- 
ness, and which they quoted with the usual decency 
of such persons for an impression upon others. This 
came in a short time to Mr. Edwards's ears ; and 
therefore taking occasion, after a sermon upon Heb. 
xii. 15, 16. preached for the purpose, to call the 
leading members of his charge together, he informed 
them of what he had heard, and procured a consent 
that the matter should be examined. A committee 
was appointed for this purpose, and to assist the 
pastor. When this was done, Mr. Edwards ap- 
pointed a time of meeting, and read a list of the 
names of young persons, accusing and accused, with- 
out specifying under which predicament they stood, 
who were desired to come together at his house. 
Upon the declaration of names, it appeared that 
almost all the families in the town had some relation 
or other concerned in the matter ; and therefore a 
great number of the heads of families not only altered 
their minds about examination, but declared that 
E 5 



82 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

their children, &c. should not be called to account 
for such things as these. 

The town was immediately in a blaze : and this so 
strengthened the hands and hardened the faces of 
the guilty, that they set their pastor at defiance with 
the greatest insolence and contempt. Here this 
affair ended, and obscenity enjoyed its triumph. But 
its effects did not end here. Mr. Edwards's hands 
were weakened ; and we are told that he afterwards 
had no great visible success in his ministry ; but, on 
the contrary, that security and carnality much in- 
creased among his people, and the youth in particular 
became more wanton and dissolute. All this paved 
the way for something more. It had been a standings 
opinion among his people for some time, counte- 
nanced also by their late pastor, that unconverted 
persons, known to be such, by the ungodliness of 
their lives, or their ignorance of divine truth in their 
minds, by which men are known to be unconverted, 
had, notwithstanding, a right, in the sight of God, 
to take the sacrament of the Lord's supper; and that^ 
therefore, it was their duty to partake of it, even 
though they had no appearance of the grace and 
holiness which the gospel states to be inseparable 
from true believers! Mr. Edwards maintained the 
contrary, as that the Lord's supper was intended for 
real Christians, none ought to come to it who were 
not at least professors of real Christianity, and to 
whom no imputation of allowed ungodliness could be 
made. The declaration of his mind upon this head, 
among such a kind of men, raised an immediate 
clamour, and put the town into as great a ferment, as 
the preaching of an holy apostle had long before oc- 
casioned at Ephesus. They were all in an uproar; 
and Dismiss him, dismiss him, was the universal cry 
of men, women, and elders. He had touched a 
favorite siri, and a favorite principle which protected 
it; and (what was a very great truth, though not id 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 83 

their sense of it) he was no longer fit to be their 
pastor. He attempted to reason with them calmly : 
but he breathed against the winds. Mr. Edwards, 
deploring their unhappy temper, and finding all me- 
thods ineffectual to restrain the torrent of virulence, 
slander, and falsehood, rushing upon him, at length 
yielded to a low artifice of these men in packing a 
council, composed of people like themselves, which 
soon came to a resolution for his dismission. Only 
twenty out of above two hundred, who voted upon 
this occasion, were for Mr. Edwards ; and therefore 
he was expelled with all the marks of an inexpressible 
rancour, on the 22d of June, 1750. Thus do the 
excellent of the earth sometimes meet with the vilest 
treatment ! 



March 23. 

Frov. xvi. 12. It is an abomination for kings to commit 
wickedness. 

The Emperor Paul of Russia died very sud- 
denly, 1801, supposed in a way not very uncommonly 
the fate of tyrants. His death, whether effected by 
poison or the bowstring, is a proof that even the most 
unlimited authority is no security for the life of the 
possessors, when the only guide of his actions are 
caprice and cruelty. The eccentric wildness of his 
conduct, and the sudden changes of his temper, can 
only be excused on the plea of insanity. The frivo- 
lity of his disposition, as well as the weakness of his 
understanding, are strikingly exemplified in a late 
publication, intitled Secret Memoirs of the Court of 
Petersburg!). 



E 6 



84 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR, 



March 24. 

Malachi iii, 10. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, 
that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now 
herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you 
the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that 
there shall not be room enough to receive it. 

This day, 1799, the Rev. David Simpson, 
minister of the New Church at Macclesfield died, 
aged 54. He was the author of many useful works, 
and his Plea for Religion has had a wide circulation. 
The following will shew that his preaching was not in 
vain. Some years ago, says one, I recollect reading 
a striking sermon by the late Mr. Simpson of Maccles- 
field, the subject, I think, was Christian Liberality ; 
but what most forcibly struck my mind, was the 
passage above quoted. I cannot describe how my 
mind was impressed with the manner in which Je- 
hovah here condescended to challenge his people, 
when he says, " And prove me now herewith, &c." 
Suffice it to say, that the subject made such an im- 
pression, that I found it my duty to do more for the 
cause of God than I ever had done. I did so, and on 
closing that year's account, I found that 1 had gained 
more than in any two years preceding it. Sometime 
afterwards, I thought the Redeemer's cause had an 
additional claim, as the place in which we worshipped 
liim wanted some repairs. The sum I then gave was 
£20 ; and in a very little time afterwards I received, 
£40, which I had long given up as lost. 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 85 



March 25. 

Luke i, 30. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary, 
thou shalt bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. 

This day is kept a festival by the Established 
Church, and is called the Annunciation, which de- 
notes the tidings brought by the angel Gabriel to the 
Virgin Mary of the incarnation of Christ. Well 
may the introduction of the Redeemer into this our 
world, and the establishment of Christianity be con- 
sidered as matter of joy, for what is there to be com- 
pared to this delightful system. 

It has indeed been opposed from the beginning : 
but it has prevailed over all opposition, and continues 
to illuminate and purify multitudes of the human 
race. There are indeed mysterious doctrines and 
sublime truths that cannot be fully comprehended in 
the present state, but all who are acquainted with its 
nature, and have examined its tendency, must be 
constrained to say it is divine. It is remarkable that 
infidels themselves have been obligated to give their 
testimony in its favour. Caesar Vaninus, a sworn 
enemy to the christian religion, and one who was in- 
dustrious in searching out objections against it, 
owned that he could find nothing in it that savoured 
of a carnal and worldly design. What says Boling- 
broke ] " No religion has ever appeared in the world 
of which the natural tendency is so much directed as 
the christian, to promote the peace and happiness of 
mankind ; and the gospel is one continued lesson of 
the strictest morality, of justice, charity, and uni- 
versal benevolence." The testimony of Gibbon is 
remarkable: " While the Roman empire (says he) 
was invaded by open violence, or undermined by 
slow decay, a pure and humble religion greatly in- 
sinuated itself into the minds of men, grew up in. 



80 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

silence and sobriety, derived new vigour from oppo- 
sition, and finally erected the banner of the cross on 
the ruins of the capital." Again he says, " the 
christian religion is a religion which diffuses among 
the people a pure, benevolent, and universal system 
of ethics, adapted to every condition of life, and re- 
commended as the will and reason of the Supreme 
Deity, and enforced by the sanction of eternal re- 
wards and punishments." Such are the testimonies 
of infidels, and true it is, that this noble system 
allows of no evil, but promotes the greatest good* 

" For this — of all that ever influenced man 
Since Abel worshipped or the world began 9 
This only spares no lust ; admits no plea; 
But makes him, if at all, completely free. 
Sounds forth the signal, as she mounts her car, 
Of an eternal, universal war. 
Rejects all treaty ; penetrates all wiles ; 
Scorns with the same indifference ; frowns and smiles ;-, 
Drives through the realms of sin, where riot reels, 
And grinds his crown beneath her burning wheels" 



March 26. 



Isaiah xxix. 6. Thou shalt be visited of the Lord of hosts 
with — earthquake, — 

A fatal earthquake in the city of Carracas, in 
South America, 1812. At four in the afternoon, the 
city stood in all its splendour : a few minutes later, 
4,500 houses^ 19 churches and convents, together 
with all their other public buildings, &c. were 
crushed to atoms by a sudden shock of an earth- 
quake, which did not last a minute; and buried 
thousands of the devoted inhabitants in ruins and 
desolation, - 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 87 

That day happened to be Maunday Thursday, and 
at the hour when every place of worship was crowded 
to commemorate the commencement of our Saviour's 
passion by public procession, which was to proceed 
through the streets a few minutes afterwards. The 
number of hapless sufferers was thus augmented to 
an incredible amount, as every church was levelled 
with the ground before any person could be aware 
of their danger. The number of sufferers taken out 
of one of the churches, two days after the disaster, 
amounted alone to upwards of 300 corpses. An idea 
of the number of dead is differently stated from 4000 
to 8000, Horrible as this catastrophe appears, it 
would be a matter of some consolation to know that 
the vicinity of that city offered some support or 
shelter to the surviving mourners; but the next 
town, and seaport thereto, viz. La Guayra, has ia 
proportion suffered still more, as well as its imme- 
diate coast. The Lord reigaetb, let the people 
tremble. 



March 27. 



2 Samuel xv. 26. Behold, here am I, let him do as it seemeth 
good unto hirn. 

Dr. Jacomb died, 1687. 7 He was the minister of 
Ludgate parish for some time. He was a man of "a 
stayed mind, temperate passions, and moderate in 
counsels. In his last sickness he thus expressed 
himself to a friend : i( 1 am in the use of means, but 
I think my appointed time is come that I must die. 
If my life might be serviceable to convert or build 
up one soul, I should be content to live, but if God 
hath no work for me to do, itere I am, let him do 
with me as he pleaseth. But to be with Christ is 
be*t of all." 



88 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR, 



March 28. 

2 Kings v. % 3. And the Syrians had gone out by companies, 
and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a 
little maid, and she waited on Naaman's wife. And she 
said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the 
prophet that is in Samaria, for he would recover him of his 
leprosy. 

The Rev. John Eyre of Hackney died, 1803, 
He was one of the first friends to the Missionary 
Society, and very useful in his own neighbourhood. 
From the rich he obtained money, and from that part 
of his congregation who had little money to bestow, 
but were influenced by the love of Christ, he ob- 
tained, what is above ail price, their personal labour 
in visiting the sick and teaching the ignorant. By 
their assistance he carried on his Sunday School and 
Society for visiting the sick. Here the following 
illustration of the above passage took place. A poor 
man in Hackney, finding himself, as he thought, at 
the point of death, begged his wife to inquire if any 
thing could be found to take away the distress of 
mind which he felt at the thought of dying. " Look/' 
said he, " into Moore's Almanack, perhaps he says 
something about it." His little girl, who attended 
the Sunday School, being present, said to him, 
" Father, there is a good man belonging to our 
school who visits sick people to pray with them, and 
if he knew you wanted him, he would come to you." 
" Run for him," said the poor creature. The girl 
went, and returned with one of her teachers, who 
read and explained as simply as possible, some of 
the most suitable parts of the New Testament, and 
by repeated visits, was the means of giving to the 
poor creature a clear view of the way of salvation. 
When he died, he gave satisfactory evidence of faith 
in the Son of God ! Who would have thought, that 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 89 

in the enlightened parish of Hackney any man was 
to be found so ignorant as not to know even of the 
existence of the Bible. In this instance we may see 
the great utility of Sunday schools; for while the 
father was ignorant, the daughter was instructed. 
Highly honoured child, to be the instrument of the 
everlasting salvation of a father. 



March 29. 

James v. 9. Behold the Judge standeth before the door. 
1 Sam. xxv. 1. And Samuel died ; and all the Israelites were 
gathered together and lamented him. 

The Rev. Thomas Robinson of Leicester was 
buried, 1813. On the Sunday before his death he 
preached from the above words out of James, with 
particular reference to the Leicester assizes, which 
were coming, and which he had been accustomed to 
improve with peculiar energy and success. He had 
just finished the act of shaving himself, which he 
performed immediately after conversing with the Se- 
cretary of the Bible Society, when he suddenly 
dropped the razor from his hand ; his countenance, 
words, and manner, betrayed much confusion and 
emotion of mind ; and after resting for a few mo- 
ments in his chair, he was conducted without difficulty 
to his bed, on which he laid himself quietly down, 
and closed his ejes never more to open them in this 
world. He lingered for eight hours, but never 
shewed any signs of sense after he had retired to his 
bed. He died at five o'clock in the afternoon, on the 
24th of March, in the 64th year of his age. In the 
death of Mr. Robinson, society has lost one of its 
most useful and active benefactors and distinguished 
ornaments; and the church of Christ one of its 



90 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

ablest, most faithful, and most successful defenders, 
In every relation which he sustained, his removal has 
made a void which will long be most deeply and 
severely felt. His country, his county, his town, his 
bereaved family, his mourning people, have lost a 
father, a friend, a counsellor, a judge; under God 
their support, their comfort, and their joy. Seldom 
has any man's death been more widely, more cordially, 
or more justly lamented. The town of Leicester 
became one general scene of distress and mourning, 
as the tidings of his death spread through it. His 
funeral was marked by the attendance of an immense 
concourse of persons, amounting, as has been sup^ 
posed, to four thousand ; and by the deep and mani- 
fested anguish which appeared to pervade every 
spectator. In the language of a most eloquent speaker 
on this sad subject, " the whole town seemed to have 
been moved from its foundations/' to testify its 
sorrow. Each individual of the multitude which 
was present, found it difficult to tear himself from 
the consecrated spot in which his remains were ds*, 
posited. 



March 30. 

Acts xxi. 13. I am read}', not to be bound only, but also to 
die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. 

Bishop Ferrar martyred at Carmarthen, 1555. 
What was said of Epaminondas might be, with the 
greatest propriety, said of this good bishop, that he 
was truly magnanimous. Epaminondas, while bravely 
fighting in the thickest of the enemy, received a fatal 
wound in the breast. But seeing that his army was 
conquered, he exclaimed, " The event of the day is 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. oi 

decided, draw now this javelin from my body, and 
let me bleed/' This was to die covered with glory, 
and shewing magnanimity to the last But what shall 
we say to the courage and fortitude of this worthy 
bishop. A little before he suffered, a Mr. Richard 
Jones, a young gentleman of family in the country, 
lamented to him the severity and painfulness of the 
kind of death which he was to undergo. The Bishop, 
with all the firmness which was celebrated in the 
primitive martyrs of the church, immediately an- 
swered in these words, " If you see me once stir 
while I sutler the pains of burning, then give no 
credit to the truth of those doctrines for which I 
die." Undoubtedly it was by the grace and support 
of God he was enabled to make good this assertion: 
*' for (says Mr. Fox) so patiently he stood, that he 
never moved, but even as he stood holding up his 
stumps, so still he continued, till one Richard Gravel! 
with a staff dashed him upon the head, and so struck 
him down." 



March 31. 

Matt. vi. 10. Thy kingdom come; thy will be done. 

Dr. Donne, Dean of St. Paul's, died 1631, aged 
58 years. On account of his early attainments, it 
was said of him that he was rather born wise than 
made so by study. He soon saw through the errors 
of Popery, and became a decided friend to the truth, 
and a most affectionate preacher. His poetry carries 
with it marks of originality. His benevolence is 
worthy of notice, he was the mean of liberating many 
out of prison who were confined for small debts, or 
for their fees. He was a continual benefactor to 
poor scholars both of this and foreign nations. He 



92 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

usually sent a servant to all the prisons in London to 
distribute his charity at all festival tiroes in the year. 
Having preached his annual sermon, the first Friday 
ia Lent, with great weakness of body, from that 
passage, " To God the Lord belong the issues from 
death," he hastened to his house, out of which he 
never moved, till, like Stephen, carried out to his 
grave. A friend asked him, " Why are you sad S? 
to which he replied, " I am not sad, 1 am in a serious 
contemplation of the mercies of my God to me;" 
and among other things added, " I am full of joy, 
and shall die in peace/' Drawing near his end he 
said, " I were miserable, if I might not die;" and 
finished his mortal career with the words selected 
above, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done." 
Such is the prayer of all true believers. Dr. Donne 
closed his own e>es and then disposed his hands and 
body into such a posture as required no alteration by 
those who came to shroud him. 



April 1. 

Matt. \ii. 2. With what measure ye mete, it shall be mea- 
sured to you again. 

The Rev. Edmund Jones born, 1702. He was 
minister of Ebenezer Chapel near Pontipool. He 
was so happy in his matrimonial connection, that 
when Mr. Whitfield visited him, it had such an im- 
pression on him, that he immediately determined to 
alter his situation. His visits were short, and espe- 
cially where there was no opportunity of doing some- 
thing for God. "It is time for me to be gone, lie 
would say ; I can do no good here, and why should 
I stop, when I cannot do good." He was truly 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 93 

liberal, though exceedingly poor. It is said, that 
being on a visit, when his finances Ave re very low, he 
had a sum of money given to him by a friend, at 
whose house he was, with a view to enable him to 
purchase malt, that he might make some beer for his 
family against winter. Returning home, he happened 
to pass through a village where there were several 
poor families, some of whom were sick, and others in 
very necessitous circumstances. Hearing of their 
distresses, he went into their houses in order to 
address some serious advice to them. But his heart 
was so much affected with the miseries he beheld, 
that he distributed among them what his friend had 
given him to supply his own wants. When he 
reached home, he soon acquainted his wife with 
what he had done ; and she, with her usual spirit of 
complacency, in every act of humanity, applauded 
his conduct, aad pointing behind the door, shewed 
him that very quantity of malt which might have, been 
• procured for the sum of money he had given away ; 
at the same time telling him that God had already 
repaid his kindness, by inclining the heart of a 
neighbouring farmer to make them a present of as 
much as they wanted. 

On another occasion, as he was returning home 
over the mountains, from the places where he had 
been to dispense the word of life, he accidently met 
a poor creature, almost naked, and perishing with 
cold. Such an object could not fail to work upon 
the tender sympathies of his heart. Having no 
money, he stripped himself of his shirt, and what 
other clothes he could spare, and gave them to him ; 
and after conversing with him about the state of his 
soul, and commending the miserable object to God 
in prayer, he pursued his journey. As soon as he 
entered his house, Mrs. Jones was alarmed at his ex- 
traordinary appearance, and hastily inquired if aay 
thing disastrous had happened to him] The good 



94 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

man soon quieted her fears by reciting the particulars 
of what had occurred. " You did well, my dear/* 
said she, Ci you have other clothes to put on ; let us 
be thankful to God that we are not in the poor man's 
circumstances/' 

When approaching the gates of death, he was 
asked if he feared death. He answered with sur- 
prise, " I fear death! no, I know too much of Jesus 
Christ to fear death. It is in itself terrible, but I do 
not fear it." He died, Nov. 26, 1793. so respected 
that the enemies of religion confessed that, " If 
there were a good man upon earth, Edmund Jones 
was one." 



. April 2. 

Ephes. ii. 8. For we are saved by grace. 

The Rev. and excellent John Howe died, 1705, 
Very few men have been more justly esteemed, and 
more respectfully spoken of, by persons of all per- 
suasions in religion, than the learned, amiable, faith- 
ful, and evangelic pastor, Mr. John Howe. He was 
upon good terms with the neighbouring ministers, 
particularly Mr. G. Hughes of Plymouth, whose 
daughter he married. With him he carried on a 
weekly correspondence in Latin letters. The follow- 
ing circumstance in one of them is remarkable. Mr. 
Howe's house being on fire, was extinguished by a 
seasonable shower. On that very day he received a 
letter from his father Hughes, which concluded with 
this prayer, Sit Ros call super habit acnlum vestrum, 
i. e. Let the dew of heaven be upon your dwelling. 

Mr. Howe always appeared so disinterested, that 
the Protector once said to him, " You have obtained 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 95 

many favours for others, I wonder when the time is 
to come that you will move for something for yourself 
and family." 

Having a mortification in his leg, his son, a physi- 
cian, with a kind design, took the liberty to lance it 
without his leave ; upon which Mr. Howe cried out, 
'" What are you doing? I am not afraid of dying, 
but I am afraid of pain " 

He was once, during his decline, in a most affect- 
ing heavenly frame, at the communion, and carried 
out into such a transporting celebration of the love 
of Christ, that both he and his communicants were 
apprehensive he would have died in the service. He 
was sometimes very pleasant in his last sickness, and 
conversed freely with the many persons of all ranks 
who came to see him, and talked like one of another 
world, with the most elevated hopes of that blessed- 
ness on which his heart had long been set ; and once 
declared, after an unexpected revival, that were it 
put to his choice whether he would die that moment, 
or live seven years, he would prefer the former. 
His hope of heaven was, however, accompanied with 
great humility, which led him to say, " I expect my 
salvation, not as a profitable servant, but as a par- 
doned sinner." Being at last worn out, he finished 
his course with joy, and was buried in the parish 
church of St. Allhallows, Bread Street. 



April 3. 



Isaiah, liii.4, 5. He bore our griefs and carried oiar sor- 
rows: he was wounded for our transgressions, he was 
bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace 
was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. 

The Crucifixion of Jesus Christ. 

" Among the Romans, the despotic power was so 



96 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

terrible, that if a slave had attempted the life of his 
master, all the rest had been crucified with the guilty 
person. But our gracious Master died for his slaves 
who had conspired against him. He shed his blood 
for those who spilt it. He was willing to be crucified, 
that we might be glorified. Our redemption was 
sweeter to him than death was bitter, by which it 
was to be obtained. It was excellently said by 
Pherecides, That God transformed himself into love 
when he made the world. But with greater reason 
it is said by the apostle, God is love, when he 
redeemed it." 

" A certian Asiatic queen, departing this life, left 
behind her three accomplished sons, all arrived to 
years of maturity. The young princes were at strife 
who should pay the highest respect to their royal 
mother's memory. To give scope for their generous 
contentions, they agreed to meet at the place of in- 
terment ; and there present the most honourable gift 
they knew how to devise, or were able to procure. 
The eldest came, and exhibited a sumptuous monu- 
ment: consisting of the richest materials, and orna- 
mented with the most exquisite workmanship. The 
second ransacked all the beauties of the blooming 
creation, and offered a garland of such admirable 
colours and delightful odours as had never been seen 
before. The youngest appeared, without any pomp- 
ous preparations, having only a ctystal bason in one 
hand, and a silver bodkin in the other, As soon as 
he approached, he threw open his breast, [pierced a 
vein which lay opposite to his- heart, received the 
blood in the transparent vase, and, with an air of 
affectionate Reverence, placed it on the tomb. The 
spectators, struck with the sight, gave a shout of 
general applause, and immediately gave preference 
to this last oblation. 

If it was reckoned such a singular expression of 
love to expend a few of those precious drops for 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 97 

the honour of a parent, O how matchless ! how in- 
effable was the love of Jesus, in pouring out hi* 
vital blood for the salvation of enemies ! 

Cyrus had taken captive the young prince of 
Armenia, together with his beautiful and blooming 
princess, whom he had lately married, and of 
whom he was passionately fond. When both were 
brought to the tribunal, Cyrus asked the prince 
what he would give to be reinstated in his king- 
dom ] He answered with an air of indifference, 
*' That as for his crown and his own liberty, he 
valued them at a very low rate: But, if Cyrus 
would restore his beloved princess to her native 
dignity and hereditary possession, he should in- 
finitely rejoice, and would (this he uttered with 
tenderness and ardour) willingly pay his life for 
the purchase." Could such a declaration, so highly 
endeariug, alienate the affections of the princess, 
or induce her to violate her fidelity ? Let her 
own conduct answer the query. When all the 
prisoners were dismissed with freedom, it is im- 
possible to express how much they were charmed 
with their royal benefactor. Some celebrated his 
martial accomplishments. Some applauded his 
social virtues. All were prodigal of their praises, 
and lavish in grateful acknowledgments. " And 
you," said the prince, addressing himself to his 
bride, " What think you of Cyrus ¥' " I did not 
observe him/' replied the princess. " Not observe 
him ! Upon what then was your attention fixed V 
" Upon that dear and generous man, who de- 
clared, he would purchase my liberty at the ex- 
pense of his very life." Was her heart impressed, 
were all her affections and thoughts engrossed by 
that benevolent offer? And shall ours be less 
affected with the incomparably more tender and 
endearing love of Christ, who laid down his life 
tor us] 

F 



98 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR, 



April 4. 

Jonah iv. I. But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he 

was very angry. 
Prov. xxiv. 19. Fret not. 

Oliver Goldsmith the poet died, 1774. Hk 
Deserted Village and Traveller are poems of great 
merit. But talent cannot ensure felicity. Not- 
withstanding the great success of his pieces, his 
circumstances were by no means in a prosperous 
situation. Partly owing to his liberality, and 
partly to the evil habit of gaming, the arts of 
which he knew little, he became the prey of those 
who were unprincipled enough to take the advan- 
tage of his simplicity. Though he was candid, 
honest, and humane, yet it is said that he was 
very irritable at times, passionate, peevish, and 
sullen; so that he could neither be called a wise 
nor a happy man. Let us learn from this example 
how necessary it is to look out of ourselves for 
happiness : the folly of letting little things agitate 
and vex us. Let the young, especially, beware of 
such a spirit, lest it grow upon them. " I must 
strive/' said a good woman, "against peevishness 
while I am young, or else what will become of me 
when I am old." 



April 5. 

Deut xXxi. 13, And that their children which have not 
known any thing may hear, and learn to fear the Lord 
your God. 

Mr. Raikes of Gloucester died, 1811, aged 75, 
This excellent man was born in the city of Olou* 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR- 93 

cester, in 1735, In the prime of life, his attention 
was directed to the alleviation of the sufferings 
of persons who were confined in the county Bride- 
well for petty offences; where, through necessity, 
they associated with felons of the worst description. 
His influence and property were not only employed 
in procuring relief for their bodily wants, But also 
in affording them suitable religious instruction. 
Successful in these efforts, he formed a more ex- 
tensive plan of usefulness to society, which will 
hand down his name to posterity with those honours 
that are due to the best benefactors of mankind. 
This was the institution of Sunday Schools — a plan 
%vhich, through many successive years, has been 
attended with the happiest effects. The design 
was suggested by the following circumstance: — ■ 
Some business leading him one morning into the 
outskirts of the city, he was struck with concern 
at noticing the rudeness of some wretchedly ragged 
children, who were at play in the street. Upon 
his lamenting to a woman who stood near him, 
the misery and idleness of these children, she re- 
marked, that their numbers and profligacy on a 
Sunday, when they were left to their own direc- 
tion, was still more deplorable. " It is then/' 
continued she, " a hell upon earth : we cannot read 
our Bible in peace for them." Deeply affected 
with this account, Mr. Raikes immediately began 
to reflect upon the importance of affording them 
some instruction on the Sabbath. Various difficul- 
ties presented themselves before him. At length 
the word " try" was so powerfully impressed on 
his mind, as to decide him at once to action. 
An agreement was in consequence soon after made 
with proper persons, to receive as many children 
on Sundays as should be sent, who were to be 
instructed in reading and the church catechism. 
The Curate of the parish readily undertook to 
F 2 



100 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

superintend the schools, and examine the progress 
made by the children. This took place about 1781, 
and the good consequences shortly appeared in the 
reformation and orderly behaviour of those, who 
before were in every respect the opposite of de- 
cency and regularity. For three years the schools 
gradually increased, though principally confined to 
Gloucester and its immediate neighbourhood. But 
in the year 1784, the plan was adopted in various 
other places, and attended with great success. 
Within a few years of their first formation, Mr. 
Raikes received accounts of the institution of them, 
for three hundred thousand poor children ! and he 
lived to behold his plans almost generally adopted) 
to the great advantage of the poor, and security of 
the rich. 

The following interesting anecdote will serve as 
a striking and pleasing instance of their important 
and useful effects on particular individuals. 

" One day." said Mr. Raikes, " as I was going 
to church, I overtook a soldier just entering the 
church door ; this was on a week day. As I 
passed him, I said, it gave me pleasure to see 
that he was going to a place of worship/' " Ah ! 
Sir," said he, "I may thank you for that." "Me," 
said I, " why, I do not know I ever saw you 
before." " Sir," said the soldier, " when I was a 
little boy, I was indebted to you for my first in- 
struction in my duty: I used to meet you at the 
morning service in this cathedral, and was one of 
your Sunday scholars. My father, when he left 
this city, took me into Berkshire, and put me 
apprentice to a shoemaker. I used often to think 
of you. At length I went to London, and was 
there drawn to serve as a militia-man, in the West- 
minster militia. I came to Gloucester last night 
with a deserter, and I took the opportunity this 
morning to visit the old spot, and in the hope of 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 101 

*nee more seeing you." He then told me his name, 
and brought himself to my recollection by a cu- 
rious circumstance, which happened whilst he was 
at school. His father was a journeyman currier, a 
most vile profligate man. After the boy had been 
some time at school, he came one day and told me 
that his father was wonderfully changed; and that 
he had left off going to the alehouse on a Sunday. 
It happened soon after, that I met the man in 
the street, and said to him, " My friend, it gives 
me great pleasure to hear that you have left off 
going to the alehouse on the Sunday; your son 
tells me that you now stay at home, and never 
get tipsy." He immediately replied that I had 
been the means ©f this change being produced. 
On my expressing my surprise at this, on account 
of never having so much as spoken to him before, 
he replied, " No, Sir, but the good instructions 
which you give my boy at the Sunday school, he 
repeats to me ; and this has so convinced me of 
the error of my former life, as to have led to my 
present reformation." 

" From what small circumstances often arise the 
most important events, and how extensively useful 
single and comparatively obscure individuals are 
frequently made ! Whilst the names of many a 
great hero will rot, or be recollected with ab- 
horrence, the name of Raikes will be had in ever- 
lasting remembrance and honour. Through his 
exertions, to adopt the language of the writer of 
Literary Anecdotes, " where riot and disorder were 
formerly to be seen, decency and decorum are now 
to be found ; industry has taken the place of idle- 
ness, and prophaneness has been obliged to give 
way to devotion. It is certain, if any reformation 
of manners is to be hoped for, it must be from a 
continual attention to the education of youth. The 
benefits which have sprung up in consequence of 
F 3 



102 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

Mr. Raike's plan are too obvious to need a defence 
were any person captious enough to cavil with aa 
institution which requires onlv to be observed to 
extort applause. Satisfied, that the rising generation 
will feel the influence of the benevolent intentions of 
Mr. Raikes, we have great satisfaction in joining 
our plaudit to those of the world at large; and 
without hesitation, place him in the same form with 
those, whose active benevolence entitles them to be 
looked up to with reverence and respect to the latest 
posterity." 



April 6. 

Prov. xx. 10. Whoso curseth his father or his mother, his 
lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness. 

Mary Blandy was hanged at Oxford, 1752, 
for the murder of her own father, by giving him 
white arsenic in his gruel and tea. This foul murder 
was undertaken with the utmost deliberation ; car- 
ried on with an unvaried perseverance of intention, 
and at last accomplished by a frequent repetition of 
the baneful dose, administered with her own hands. 
" This," as one observes, " was a crime so shocking 
in its own nature, and so aggravated in all its cir^ 
cumstances, as will render this wretched woman in- 
famous to the latest posterity, and make our chil- 
dren's children, should they read the horrid tale in 
her trial, blush to think that such an inhuman crea- 
ture ever had an existence. One Cranstoun, a 
libertine captain in the army, was the execrable 
monster at whose instigation she undertook the un- 
natural deed ; he hoping thereby to obtain her in 
marriage with a considerable fortune, though he had 
then a wife and children in a distant part of the 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 10S 

country. From this unhappy lady's example, youth 
may learn to guard against the first approaches of, 
and temptations to vice. They may here see the 
dreadful consequences of disobedience to parents. 
Had she listened to her father's admonitions to dis- 
miss from her acquaintance the wicked Cranstoun, 
this dreadful calamity had never befallen her. Let 
it, moreover, be remembered, that innumerable dis- 
asters and indelible disgrace are frequently entailed 
on persons through life, by their pertinaciously dis- 
regarding, neglecting, and despising the advice of 
their preceptors and guardians, the representatives 
of parents/' 



April 7. 

Ezek. xxxiii. 16. None of his sins that he hath committed 

shall be mentioned unto him. 
Matt. ix. 2. Son, be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven 

thee. 
jLuke xvii. 10. We are unprofitable servants. 

The Rev. Frederic Myconius, a German 
divine, died, 1546. He was a man of singular 
piety, of solid learning, and of an excellent judg- 
ment. He was much respected by Luther, and 
Luther by him. When he was about twenty years 
of age, the famous Tetzel brought his indulgences 
into German), boasting of the virtue of them, and 
exhorting all men, as they loved their own salvation, 
and the salvation of their deceased friends, that 
they should buy them, &c. Myconius had been 
taught by his father, the Lord's prayer, the cree'd, 
the decalogue, and had been admonished to pray 
often ; that the blood of Christ only could cleanse 
us from sin ; that if only three persons were saved 
bv this blood, he should endeavour to be one of 
F 4 



101 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

them ; and that pardon of sin and eternal life could 
not be bought with money, &c. From this cir^ 
cumstance it has been supposed that Myconius'* 
father had secretly embraced the doctrine of the 
Waldenses. Myconius however was greatly troubled, 
not knowing whether to believe his father or the 
priests ; but understanding that there was a clause 
in the indulgences, that they should freely be given 
to the poor, he went to Tetzel, and begged him to 
give him one, for that he was a poor sinner, and 
one that needed a free pardon of his sins, and a 
participation of the merits of Christ* Tetzel won- 
dered to hear him speak Latin so well, which was 
what few priests could do in those days, and he 
therefore consulted with his colleagues what was 
best to be done, who advised him to give Myeonius 
a pardon : but, after a long debate, Tetzel con- 
cluded, " That the Pope wanted money, without 
which he could not part with an indulgence." My- 
conius urged the above mentioned clause in the bull; 
upon which Tetzel's colleagues desired he might 
have one given him, pleading his learning, ingenuity, 
poverty, &c. and that it would be a dishonour both 
to God and the people to deny him one : but still 
Tetzel absolutely refused. Upon this one of them 
whispered to Myconius to give a little money for 
one, which he refused to do. They fearing the 
event, and believing that he was suborned by others, 
offered him money to buy one with ; but he would not 
accept of it, saying, " That if he chose to buy one, 
he could sell a book for that purpose ; but he de- 
sired one for God's sake, which if they denied him, 
he wished them to consider how they could answer 
it to God." But prevailing nothing, he went away 
rejoiciug that there was yet a God in heaven to 
pardon sinners freely, according to that promise, 
M I live, saith the Lord, I desire not the death 
of a sinner. 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR- 105 

On this day, also, died the Rev. William 
Grimshaw, 1763. He^was one of the most la- 
borious and useful preachers the last century pro- 
duced. He preached fifteen, twenty, and oft thirty 
times in a week, and that for fifteen years together. 
Twelve hundred persons were his communicants, 
most of whom he said were real Christians. He 
used to say, " Let me labour now, I shall have rest 
enough bye and bye. I cannot do enough for 
Christ, who has done so much for me." He caught 
a fever, of which he died, in visiting his flock. In 
a letter to Mr. Romaine he says, " When I die I 
shall then have my greatest grief and my greatest 
joy : my greatest grief that I have done so little for 
Jesus, and my greatest joy that Jesus has done so 
much for me. My last words shall be, " Here goes 
an unprofitable servant." 



April 8. 

Frov, xii. 8. A man shall be commended according to his 
wisdom. 

Petrarch, the celebrated poet, was crowned 
with laurels at Rome. The ceremony of his coro- 
nation (says Gibbon) was performed in the capitol, 
by his friend and patron the supreme magistrate of 
the republic. Twelve patrician youths were arrayed 
in scarlet ; six representatives of the most illustrious 
families, in green robes, with garlands of flowers, 
accompanied the procession. In the midst of the 
princes and nobles, the senator count of Anguillara, 
a kinsman of the Calonna, assumed his throne, and 
at the voice of a herald Petrarch arose. After dis- 
coursing on a text of Virgil, and thrice repeating 
his vows for the prosperity of Rome, he knelt before- 
1 5 



106 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 






the throne, and received from the senator a laurel 
crown, with a more precious declaration, " This 
is the reward of merit/' The people shouted, 
" Long life to the capitol and the poet \" A sonnet 
in praise of Rome was accepted, as the effusion of 
genius and gratitude; and after the whole procession 
had visited the Vatican, the wreath was suspended 
before the shrine of St. Peter. In the act or di- 
ploma which was presented to Petrach, the title and 
prerogatives of poet laureat are received in the 
capitol after the lapse of 1300 years, and he re- 
ceives the perpetual privilege of wearing, at his 
choice, a crown of laurel, ivy, or myrtle ; of assum- 
ing the poetic habit, and of teaching, disputing, 
interpreting, and composing, in all places whatso- 
ever, and on ail subjects of literature. The grant 
was ratified by the authority of the senate and 
people ; and the character of citizen was the recom- 
pense of his affection for the Roman name. They 
did him honour, but they did him justice. In the 
familiar society of Cicero and Livy, he bad imbibed 
the ideas of an antient patriot, and his ardent fancy 
kindled every idea to a sentiment, and every senti- 
ment to a passion. 

Petrarch, however, we are told, felt that such 
honours were incapable of conferring true happiness, 
and far exceeded his desert. " I blushed," says he, 
"at the ap Causes of the people, and the unmerited 
commendations with which I was overwhelmed." 
A sentiment becoming a man whose mind was deeply 
imbued with religion ; who had, on another occasion, 
said, " Let us read the historians, the poets, and the 
philosophers, but let us have in our hearts the gospel 
of Jesus Christ; in which alone is perfect wisdom 
and perfect happiness. ,, 

Let the Christian, from the above instance, en- 
deavour to realise the thought of wearing a brighter 
crown than that of laurel, a crown of glory that will 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 107 

not fade away. Let him bear in mind the goodness 
of Him, who even now crowneth his life with loving- 
kindness and tender mercies. 



April 9. 

Numb. xi. 33. The Lord smote the people with a very great 
plague. 

The plague appeared in London, 1665, continued 
for some time, and carried off about 100,000 per- 
sons. Such was the awful judgment of the Al- 
mighty on a guilty nation. How easy can the Most 
High punish sinful men. Let us fear then and 
tremble, and seek an interest in his favour, who can 
save from the most imminent danger, those who 
trust in him. Durjng the progress of the abov^ 
mentioned awful event, it is said that above forty 
thousand servants were turned into the streets to 
perish; no one would receive them into their house, 
and the villagers near town drove them away with 
pitch forks and fire arms. To the immortal honour 
of Sir John Laurence, at that time Lord Mayor of 
London, it is recorded that he took the wretched 
fugitives under his immediate protection; relieved 
them with his own fortune, as long as that lasted, 
? t nd then supported them with subscriptions which 
he solicited from all parts. Well, therefore, might 
he be stiled London's generous mayor. 



F G 



108 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR, 



April 10. 

2 Chron. xvii. 17. A mighty man of valour. 

Prince Eugene died, 1736. He was, perhaps, 
at one period of his life, the most popular man in 
Europe, equally admired for his successful bravery 
in the field, his discernment in the cabinet, and his 
conciliating manners in social life. By the English 
he was received with enthusiasm, as the friend and 
fellow soldier of Marlborough. His whole soul, it 
seems, was devoted to war ; and so accustomed was 
he to bloody campaigns, that in the memoirs he 
gives of himself, he speaks of an army not as a 
collection of men who possess immortal spirits, but 
as files, columns, and divisions to be maneuvered 
about as so many little combatants on a chess 
board. To a reflective mind, a field of carnage 
must appear as an awful scene, but this military 
hero passes over it with undiminished gaiety, and 
hears the groan of expiring thousands with as little 
disturbance as the wind which agitates the trees, or 
the waves which fall in regular succession on the 
shore. It is worthy of observation, however, lhat 
as he advanced in years, he became more pacific ; 
as the following quotations prove; "We are never 
too well convinced," he says, " which of two parties 
is wrong at the commencement of a war. They 
quarrel, they complain, they recriminate, and they 
go to battle before all can be satisfactorily explained. 
We imagine insults, injuries, and evil intentions, 
and then we cause five hundred thousand men to 
perish/' O that the contending princes of the earth 
did but remember this. 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 109 



April 11. 

Ephes. vi. 24. Grace he with all them that lore our Lord 
Jesus in sincerity. Amen. 

The Rev. Francis Tallents, minister of St. 
Mary, Shrewsbury, died, 1708, aged 38. After his 
ejection, he caused it to be written on the walls of 
his new meeting place, " that it was built not for 
a faction or party, but for promoting repentance 
and faith, in communion with all that love our Lord 
Jesus Christ in sincerity. He added that scripture 
with which the French churches usually begin their 
public worship. " Our help standeth in the name 
of the Lord, who made heaven and earth." He 
took occasion sometimes to speak of --the hope he 
had of the flourishing of the church in the latter 
days. " When God/' says he, " shall repair its 
breaches, and build it up, the subtiities of the 
schools, and many canons of councils, and customs 
of old, will be laid aside, and a great simplicity 
in the things of faith and worship will be owned 
and practised. No more conditions shall be made 
for the communion of churches than Christ has 
made for communion with him." He charged all 
about him not to pray for his life, but that he might 
patiently wait for his change; and with reference 
to the means which had been used to recover him 
from a fainting which had seized him, said to those 
about him, " Why did you not let a poor oid man 
go quietly away." He often expressed his repent- 
ance for sin, and a reliance on Christ alone. Some 
days before he died, he blessed God that he was 
fuller of inward comfort and joy than he was able 
to express. Mr. Baxter says he was a good scholar, 
a godly, blameless divine; most eminent for ex- 
traordinary prudence, and moderation, and peace- 
ableness towards all* 



110 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 



April 12. 

£ Peter i. 16. For we have not followed cunningly devised 
fables, when we made known unto you the power and 
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eye witnesses 
of his majesty. 

Dr. Young died, 1765, in his 84th year. Dr. 
Cotton, who was intimate with .him, paid him a visit 
about a fortnight before he was seized with his last 
illness. The old man was then in perfect health. 
The antiquity of his person, the gravity of his utter- 
ance, and the earnestness with which he discoursed 
about religion, gave him, in the Doctor's eves, the 
appearance of a prophet. They had been delivering 
their sentiments upon Newton on the Prophecies, 
when Dr. Young closed the conference thus : <f My 
friend, there are two considerations upon which my 
faith in Christ is built, as upon a rock. The fail 
of man, the redemption of man, and the resurrec- 
tion of man, the three cardinal articles of our 
religion, are such as human ingenuity could never 
have invented, therefore they must be divine. The 
other argument is this ; If the prophecies have been 
fulfilled (of which there is abundant demonstration), 
the scripture must be the word of God ; and if the 
scripture is the word of God, Christianity must be 
true." His Night Thoughts have had a very ex- 
tensive circulation. " I never take up this ad- 
mirable piece," says Mr. Hervey, " but I am ready 
to cry out, " Inspire me with such a spirit, and life 
shall be delightful, nor death itself unwelcome*" 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. Ill 



April 13. 

Romans xii. 18. Live peaceably with all men. 

Christopher Pitt died at his native place, 
Blandford, Dorsetshire, 1748, aged 49. He was 
celebrated for his excellent translation of Virgil's 
iEneid. Fie had so poetical a turn, that while he 
was a school boy, he wrote two large folios of manu- 
script poems. While at Oxford University, he was 
much esteemed, particularly by the celebrated Dr. 
Young, who used to call him his Son. The above 
precept was admirably exemplified in, and observed 
by him ; for it is said of him, what can be said of 
few, that he died without leaving one enemy behind 
him. Dr. Johnson says "he passed a life placid 
and honourable, neither too great for the kindness 
of the low, nor too low for the notice of the great;" 
and his monument tells that " he lived innocent and 
died beloved." Let us imbibe the spirit and imitate 
the conduct of such characters. How much more 
desirable than to possess the greatest wealth or in- 
fluence, and leave a name behind that can only be 
remembered with feelings of disgust and horror. 



April 14. 

Matt. xx. 6. And about the eleventh hour he went out and 
found others standing idle, and saith unto them. Way stand 
ye here all the day idle ? 

Though not many, yet some are called in the 
evening of life. The Almighty acts as a Sovereign, 
and is not confined to youth nor age, times nor 



112 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 



seasons. It is, however, peculiarly pleasing to see 
the aged sinner plucked as a brand from the burn- 
ing. Abraham being an idle youth, listed for 

a soldier, and after fifty years service, was dis- 
charged, and settled in Sussex. Though he had 
all his life been a stranger to religion, in the solitude 
of the country he began to reflect, and resolved to 
pray to God to direct and 'guide him in the right 
way. He went round to several places of worship, 
but could not find any satisfaction, till at last he 
dropped into a place where at that time the Rev. 
Mr. Venn was preaching. He w r as just then an 
hundred years old, and still hearty, and in the 
perfect use of all his faculties. The truth struck 
his mind with an evidence and power he had never 
before felt, he listened with the deepest attention 
and delight. As soon as the service was ended, he 
laid his hand upon the shoulder of a neighbour who 
was next him: " Ah," says he, " neighbour, this is 
the very truth of God's word, which I have been 
seeking, and never heard it so plain before. Here 
will I abide." He spoke of that day as the day of 
his birth, and used to say he was a child born at a 
hundred years old. He died in the 106th year of 
his age, persevering in the christian walk, and adorn- 
ing the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things; 
and as a ripe sheaf in the day of harvest was gathered 
into the bosom of our Saviour in peace by a gentle 
dissolution, old and full of days.? 



if», 



April 15. 

Luke xii. 43, Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord, when 
he cometh shall find so doing. 

The Rev. James Granger, a native of Shaftes- 
bury in Dorsetshire, died, 1776. He was a learned 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 113 

and ingenious divine, and author of a very entertain- 
ing and highly valuable work, under the title of 
" A Biographical History of England." Being seized 
with a fit whilst administering the sacrament on 
Easter Sunday, he died the next day at his vicarage 
of Shiplane, a few miles from Henly in Oxfordshire. 

" In human heart what bolder thought can rise* 
Than man's presumption on to-morrow's dawn. 
Where is to-morrow ? In another world. 
For numbers this is certain, the reverse 
Is sure to none." Young. 

" Death," says Mr. Brooks, " does not always 
give warning beforehand ; sometimes he gives the 
mortal blow suddenly ; he comes behind with his 
dart, and strikes a man at the heart before he 
saith, Have I found thee, O mine enemy 1 Euty- 
chus fell down dead suddenly, Acts xx. 9. Death 
suddenly arrested David's sons and Job's sons ; 
Augustus died in a compliment ; Galba with a sen- 
tence, Vespasian with a jest ; Zeuxis died laughing 
at the picture of an old woman, which he drew 
with his own hand ; Sophocles was choaked with a 
stone in a grape; Diodorus the logician died for 
shame that he could not answer a jocular question 
propounded at table by Stilpo. Joannes Mesius, 
preaching upon the raising of the woman of Nain's 
son from the dead, within three hours after died 
himself." 

The uncertainty of human life was greatly ex- 
emplified in the recent death of the Rev. Dr. George 
Hall, in Dublin, on the very day (Nov. 23, 1811) 
in which the London Gazette announced his eleva- 
tion to the See of Dromore, as successor to the late 
venerable Bishop Percy. 

A person who lived in the neglect of the worship 
of God, and of reading his word, was one Lord's 
day sitting at the firewith his family. He saidjie 



114 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 



thought he would read a chapter iu the Bible, 
having not read one for a long time; but, alas ! he 
was disappointed, it was too late; for in the very 
act of reaching it from the shelf, he sunk down and 
Immediately expired ! 

Reader, if you have neglected this duty, "while it 
is called to-day," resolutely begin to read the Holy 
Scriptures. 



iLi 



April 16. 

Prov. xiii 5. A wicked man is loathsome, and cometh ta 

shame. 

What a striking illustration have we of this pas- 
sage in the life and death of George Villi ers, 
Duke of Buckingham, who departed this life, 
this day, 1687. His generosity was profuseness, 
his wit malevolence, and the gratification of his 
passions his sole aim through life. Pope gives us 
an afFecling account of the death of this licentious 
nobleman, who, after having been master of near 
£50,000. per annum, he describes as reduced to the 
deepest distress by his vice and extravagance, and 
breathing bis last moments in a mean apartment at 
an inn. Such is often the reward of sensual plea- 
sures. The wicked may be in possession of wealth, 
and enjoy the pleasures of the world for a season ; 
but how are they treated at last? It is said that 
the Duke D'Alva starved his prisoners, after he had 
given them quarters, saving, "Though I promised 
your lives, I promised not to find you meat." Thus 
in the same manner doth the world deceive its vo- 
taries in the end. The Persians, when they obtained 
a victory, selected the noblest slave, and made him 
a king for three days ; clothed him with royal robes, 
and ministered to him all the pleasures he could 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. "115 

choose ; but at the end of all he was to die as a 
sacrifice to mirth and folly. So the pleasures of 
the world are short lived, and he only is the happy 
man who is rich towards God, and lives and dies in 
his favour. 



April 17. 

Eph. iv. 29. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of 
your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, 
that it may minister grace unto the hearers. 

The Rev. Samuel Harvey died in the year 
1729. He had a great opinion of the good which 
might be done by religious conversation. He was 
confirmed in this by the following circumstance. 
When he was a school boy, his conversation about 
religion was the means of the conversion of one who 
became a minister; which account, he said, he re- 
ceived some years after from the person himself. 
What an encouragement this, even for the young, as 
well as others, to drop a word on divine subjects. 
Who can tell but it may prove the savour of life 
unto life. When the father of this good man feared 
lest his stature should render him despicable, and 
be an obstruction to his acceptance in the world, he 
declared to a friend, " That he was willing to 
undergo any pains, or any reproach for the term of 
life, if he might be the instrument of saving one 
soul/' This satisfaction he lived to enjoy, as we 
find from the above-mentioned instance. 



116 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 



April 18. 

Isa. xli. 17. When the poor and needy seek water, and there 
is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will 
hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. 

The celebrated martyrologist, Mr. John Fox, 
died, 1587. He was at one time reduced to the 
most forlorn condition, apparently forsaken of God 
and man, a wretched outcast from the comforts of 
friendship in heaven and earth. In this state he 
was sitting, in St. Paul's church, almost spent with 
long fasting, his bones staring^ his countenance pale, 
his eyes hollow and ghastly, and bearing in his 
person every evidence of a starving, dying man; 
when he who sees and feels the afflictions of his 
faithful servants, and has appointed a time for their 
deliverance, sent a person to communicate a tem- 
porary supply, and direct his views to the prospect 
of brighter days. The stranger accosted him in 
terms of the kindest familiarity, and putting a sum 
of money into his hand, exhorted him to be of good 
cheer, to take proper care of himself, and to improve 
the means of prolonging his life ; for that within a 
few days new hopes would arise, with ample pro- 
vision for his future necessities. He tried with great 
anxiety to find out this son of consolation, but all in 
vain, his generosity was for a memorial before God, 
not for the praise of man. However, his welcome 
prediction was happily fulfilled, for within a few 
days Mr. Fox was raised to influence and honour. 
He was buried in the chancel of St. Giles, Cripple- 
gate, of which parish he had been, in the beginning 
of Elizabeth's reign, for some time vicar. 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. Ill 



April 19, 

I Sam. viii.9. Howbeit, yet solemnly protest unto them. 

The name of Protestant took its rise, 1529. On 
this day a few of the electors and princes of Ger- 
many, joined by the inhabitants of Strasburg, Neu- 
rembiirg, Ulm, Constance, Hailbron, and several 
other cities, published a protestation against a decree 
of the Diet (the assembly of the States of the 
German empire) and petitioned the emperor to have 
it revoked. Hence the name of Protestants was at 
that period given to the reformers of religion in 
Germany; and it has since become the general 
denomination of sects of every description who, 
continuing to profess Christianity, abjure the errors 
of popery, whose adherents are called Romanists, 
Catholics, Roman Catholics, or more properly Pa- 
pists, because of their subjection to the Pope, whom 
the greater part of them receive and honour as 
Christ's vicar, and universal bishop. The Protest- 
ants in England are divided into Conformists and 
Nonconformists ; or^ as they are commonly denomi- 
nated, Churchmen and Dissenters. The former are 
those who conform to that mode of worship, and 
form of church government which are established 
and supported by the state: the latter are those 
who meet for divine service in places of their own. 
The term Dissenter, or Protestant Dissenter, com- 
prehends more especially those of the following 
denominations, Presbyterians, Independents, and 
baptists. 



118 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR, 



April 20, 

JPsalmt xxxvii. 5. Commit thy way unto the Lord $ trust als© 
in him, and he shall bring it to pass. 

Bugenhagius the Reformer died, 1558, in the 
*73d year of his age. He was a faithful pastor, and 
a zealous defender of the truth against all error. 
He assisted Luther in the translation of his Bible 
into German, and kept the day on which it was 
finished annually as a festival. The above text was 
his great support, and a favorite with him in all the 
commotions of his day. In the wars and confusions 
of Germany, among the states, princes, and divines, 
and when Wittenberg itself Was besieged, he did not 
fly to any other place, but gave himself up to con- 
stant and fervent prayer, encouraging himself much 3 
in seeing, that in the midst of the storms and tem- 
pests of controversies and iquarrels, the poor ship of 
Christ's church was not, and could not be swallowed 
up and destroyed. He remained stedfast and im- 
moveable both in the doctrine and discipline of the 
church; always averse to unquiet and seditious 
counsels; urging that text, Render to Caesar the 
things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things 
that are God's. Like the Emperor Severus, he 
minded his own business, without minding what 
others said of him. His business was the work of 
the gospel, about which he was to give an account 
to God, not to man. He left those who delighted 
to meddle with factions, to gather the thistles and 
thorns, which they would surely find in the way. 
He was only concerned for the distractions of the 
church. At length through age and great labour, 
not being able to preach any longer, he went daily 
to the church, and in the most devout and ardent 
manner prayed for himself and for the afflicted 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR, 119 

church of God. Afterwards falling sick, he still 
continued instant in prayer, and holy profitable con- 
ferences with his friends, till drawing near his end, 
He often repeated that important portion of scrip- 
ture, " This is life eternal, to know thee, the only 
true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent ;" 
and at last quietly departed in the Lord, 



April 21. 

1?rov. i. 32. For the turning away of the simple shall slsy 
them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. 

Alexander the Great died, 323, B.C. Irs 
contemplating the character of this celebrated con- 
queror, we see the above passage illustrated in a 
striking manner. " The mercies of God/' says Bp. 
Taylor, " do not always allure us, do not make us 
thankful; but (as the Romans said) Felicitate cor* 
rumpimur. We become worse for God's mercy^ 
and think it will be always holy-day; and are like 
the crystal of Arabia, hardened not by cold, but 
made crusty and stubborn by the warmth of the 
divine fire, by its refreshment and mercies/' When 
Alexander had conquered Darius, he ordered himself 
to be worshipped as a god ; and Calisthenes, who 
refused to do it, was shamefully put to death. He 
murdered at a banquet his friend Clitus, who had 
once saved his life in a battle, because he enlarged 
upon the virtues and exploits of Philip, and pre- 
ferred them to those of his son. His victories and 
success increased his pride ; he dressed himself in 
the Persian manner, and gave himself up to pleasure 
and dissipation. He set on fire the town of Perse- 
polis, in a fit of madness and intoxication, eucouraged 



120 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

by the courtezan Thais. He died through intoxi- 
cation at Babylon in the 33d year of his age, and 
was interred at Alexandria, a city which he had him- 
self built. 



April 22. 

Bccles. xi. 7. Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing 
it is for the eyes to behold the sun. 

This day, 1745, there was a total eclipse of the 
$un. This is a very curious spectacle. Two French 
mathematicians came from Paris to London to ob- 
serve it. Of all the various objects in nature, the 
sun is the most glorious and beautiful. The diameter 
of it is 890,000 miles; it is 108 millions of miles 
from us ; so that a cannon ball going at the rate of 
480 miles an hour, would not reach it in 19 years. 
Anaxagoras the philosopher being asked what he 
was born for 1 answered, " To see the heavens, the 
sun and the moon ;" and Eudoxus, another philo- 
sopher, said, " He could be content to perish, could 
he get so near the sun as to learn the nature of it." 
In some of the northern parts of the world, where 
they are many months without the sun, it is said, 
that when they conceive that it is about to return, 
they put on their richest apparel, and climb up the 
highest mountains with emulation who shall first 
behold the returning light; which as soon as it 
appears, they salute with acclamations of joy, and 
welcome it with solemn feasting and all other testi- 
monies of exceeding gladness. We are not, how- 
ever, sufficiently grateful for the advantages we derive 
from this luminary. Were we to be shut up for a 
few months in a dark room, and then re-admitted to 
behold the light of day, we should feel the force o£ 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 121 

the above passage more than we now do. A faithful 
sufferer in the cause of God and truth, who had 
been kept in a dark dungeon in the inquisition in 
Portugal, when brought forth to be martyred, on 
beholding the light of the sun, which he had not 
seen for many years, could not forbear exclaiming, 
" Who that hath his reason in him, could worship 
any but the Maker of that glorious creature." His 
inhuman persecutors gagged him immediately, and 
hurried him to the stake. " It is our mercy," as 
one observes, " that uninterrupted by the iron hand 
of persecution, we can behold the sun, and contem- 
plate that display which it affords of the beneficence, 
power, wisdom, and glory of Him who made the 
greater light to rule by day, and who seems to have 
designed this glorious luminary as in some degree an 
emblem of his own splendour and majesty." 

In the sacred scriptures Jesus Christ is compared 
to the sun. He is infinitely glorious in himself, and 
the source of ail light, strength, felicity, energy, and 
fruitfulness to his people. His glory qnce seemed 
eclipsed to the view of man, but not to the celestial 
inhabitants. He still continues to shed his lustre ; 
nor shall the splendor of his throne ever be di- 
minished. 

Blessed Redeemer, arise and shine on this dull 
heart of mine ; then shall the darkness flee away, the 
clouds of sorrow disperse ; and peace and joy attend 
the path I go. Amen. 



G 



122 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 



April 23. 

1 Kings viii, 62. And the king, and all Israel with hitoy 
offered sacrifice before the Lord. 

His Majesty George III. after being restored 
from a most dangerous state, attended divine service 
at St. Paul's, 1789. The procession was peculiarly 
grand, and in the evening, the most splendid illumi- 
nations took place ever known in this country. 
Prayer had been earnestly offered during the King's 
illness, by almost all parties of religionists, which 
being now answered, occasioned a kind of universal 
joy. It is pleasant to observe those who move in 
elevated circles acknowledging the goodness of the 
Most High; and it is matter of sincere gratitude, 
when He who is King over all, condescends to hear 
the supplications of those who look to him. 



April 24. 

Isa. liv. 7. For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but 
with great mercies will I gather thee. 

A Mr. P was so distressed in his mind, that 

he was ready to give up all for lost. " I feel," said 
he, " a hell in my conscience. How woeful and 
miserable is my state, that must converse with hell 
hounds." The standers by asked him to pray. 
" I cannot,'* said he. " Surfer us to pray for you/' 
He replied, "Take not Gods name in vain for a 
reprobate as 1 am." Yet after all these painful 
feelings, light broke in upon his mind. He declared 
he renounced his inconsiderate language above men- 
tioned ; and such was his joy, that he exclaimed, 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 123 

" I do feel, God be praised, such comfort, that if I 
had an hundred worlds, I could not make satis- 
faction for such an issue ; the sea is not fuller of 
water, nor the sun of light, than God is of mercy; 
his mercies are ten thousand times more ! What 
cause have I to magnify the great goodness of God, 
that hath humbled, nay, rather exalted such a 
wretched miscreant, one of so base a condition, to a 
state so glorious. The Lord hath honoured me 
with his goodness, I am sure, he hath prepared a 
glorious kingdom for me; the joy 1 feel in my heart 
is incredible." Thus let not any despair. Weeping 
may endure for a night, but joy shall come in the 
morning. 



April 25. 

Isaiah xlix. 14. The Lord hath forsaken me. 

The truly excellent christian poet, Cowper, 
died, 1800. His talents, as a first-rate poet, are so 
well known, that nothing need be said here. But, 
in contemplating the life of this great man, we see 
how mysterious the ways of Providence are. Not- 
withstanding his high attainments as a Christian, he 
was permitted to fall a victim to melancholy, which 
so completely subverted those doctrinal sentiments, 
which had afforded him, for the last nine years, the 
most transcendant comfort, that he considered him- 
self as cast off for ever from the hope of mercy, 
although he never disputed the divine change which 
had been wrought in his mind. Through the depths 
of his distress, Mr. Newton attended him with un- 
failing tenderness of friendship, and once entertained 
him fourteen months at the vicarage; but he was 
G 2 



124 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

deaf to consolation or encouragement, while he sup- 
posed the ear of the Creator to be shut against his 
complaints. He ceased not only from attending 
public service, but likewise from joining in do- 
mestic worship, or attempting private devotion. His 
judgment was equally convinced as ever of the glory 
of Christ, and his desires for communion with God 
were as fervent ; but apprehending his own perdition 
to be determined by an immutable decree, he re- 
garded it as blasphemy in him to ask for mercy. 
Well Is it for us that God's thoughts are not as our 
thoughts, and that whatever may be our views, and 
however depressed our spirits, he remains the same 
merciful Being. 



April 26. 

Job xxiv. 22. No man is sure of life. 

The celebrated traveller, James Bruce, after 
having encountered innumerable perils, in distant 
regions, in search of the source of the Nile, fell 
down his own staircase, at his seat at Kinnard in 
Scotland, 1794. Thus are we sometimes nearest to 
danger when we imagine we are most safe ; which 
should teach us never to be too confident in our- 
selves, but to be dependent on Him in whose hands 
our breath is. He had been entertaining some guests, 
with his usual hospitality and elegance. About eight 
o'clock in the evening, when his guests were ready 
to depart, he was handing one of the ladies down 
stairs, when having reached the seventh or eighth 
step from the bottom, his foot slipped, and he fell 
down headlong. He was taken up speechless ; his 
face, particularly his forehead and temples being 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 125 

severely bruised, and the bones of his hands broken. 
He continued in a state of apparent insensibility for 
eight or nine hours, and expired on Sunday, the 
27th, in the 64th year of his age. In conversation, 
as well as in his writings, he embraced every oppor- 
tunity of expressing a deep and lively sense of the 
care of a superintending Providence, without which 
he was convinced that there could be no safety in 
human strength or human foresight. His belief of 
the christian religion rested on the surest grounds ; 
and such was his veneration for the sacred writings, 
that for some years before his death, they seemed to 
occupy all the time which he gave to study. He 
read no sermons, however elegant; and here, per- 
haps, he went into an extreme, for he dissuaded 
others from such reading. " Read the Bible/' said 
he, " and you will soon perceive the emptiness of 
the most applauded sermons." 



April 27. 

Gal. \i. 9. Let us not be weary in well-doing. 
Prov. ii. 2. Apply thine heart to understanding. 

Sir William Jones died, 1794, aged 48. 
While he was considered as a prodigy of learning ; 
unlike many other literary characters, he was a sin- 
cere believer in the doctrines of Christianity ; and 
the testimony he bore to the sacred scriptures is 
well known. It may be asked, How was it possible 
for him to gain such a knowledge of universal litera- 
ture ? In answering this we shall afford a practical 
illustration of the above passages. " The faculties 
of his mind, by nature vigorous, were improved by 
constant exercise, and his memory, by habitual 
G 3 



126 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

practice, had acquired a capacity of retaining what- 
ever had once been impressed upon it. To an un- 
extinguished ardour for universal knowledge, he 
joined a perseverance in the pursuit of it which 
subdued all obstacles. His studies began with the 
dawn, and during the intermissions of professional 
duties, were continued throughout the day ; reflec- 
tion and meditation strengthened and confirmed 
what industry and investigation had accumulated. 
It was a fixed principle with him, from which he 
never voluntarily deviated, not to be deterred by 
any difficulties that were surmountable, from prose- 
cuting to successful termination, what he had once 
deliberately undertaken." 

What a fine lesson is here for the Christian. How 
much is to be known, how much to be enjoyed, 
how much to be done, by constant application. 
Let us then under all difficulties, press forward, 
depending on him who has promised success to 
them who persevere. 



April 28. 

Exodus x*i. 2. The children of Israel murmured against 
Moses and Aaron. 

Captain Bligh, and nineteen of his men, 
were compelled by the mutinous crew of the Bounty 
to go into an open boat, near Annamooka, one of 
the Friendly Islands. They reached the island of 
Temir in June, after a perilous voyage of 3600 
miles. How disposed are men to murmur and rebel ! 
how impatient of restraint, and how ready to injure 
one another. What a world of anarchy, confusion, 
and rebellion, would this be, were it not for that 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 127 

power which stilleth the rage of the people, and 
disposes all things according to his own will. Let 
us be thankful if our hearts are subdued to him; 
and we are taught to live peaceably with all men. 



April 29. 

Psalm Ixviii. 30. Scatter thou the people that delight in war. 

War with France renewed, 1803. Who is there 
that considers the dreadful consequences of war, 
but must most earnestly join the Psalmist in the 
above prayer. 

Marcellus, though a celebrated warrior, was hu- 
mane. At the surrender of Syracuse, he wept at 
the thought that many were going to be exposed to 
the avarice and rapaciousness of an incensed sol- 
diery, which the policy of Rome, and the laws of 
war rendered inevitable. Thucydides shed tears, 
when he heard Herodotus repeat his history of the 
Persian wars, at the public festivals of Greece. Let 
us, while we deplore the sad effects of war, study 
the things which make for peace. Antonius Titus, 
surnamed Pius, was adopted by the emperor Adrian, 
to whom he succeeded. In his conduct towards 
his subjects, he behaved with affability and hu- 
mility, and listened with patience to every complaint 
brought before him. When told of conquering 
heroes, he said with Scipio, I prefer the life and 
preservation of a citizen to the death of a thousand 
enemies. 



G 4 



128 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR, 

April 30. 

Isaiah i. 15. Your hands are full of blood. 

Lucan, the Latin poet, bled to death at Rome, 
A. D. 66, at the command of Nero. This imperial 
monster was guilty of all kinds of cruelty. Among 
the number of persons wantonly sacrificed by this 
tyrant, were his own mother, wife, preceptor (Se- 
neca), and the Apostle Paul. The judgments of 
God overtook him ; he was condemned to be dragged 
naked through the streets of Rome, to be whipped 
to death, and afterwards to be thrown down the 
Tarpeian Rock, like the meanest malefactor. 



May 1. 

Ho sea xii. 7. He loveth to oppress^ 
Levit. xxv. 14. Ye shall not oppress. 
Deut. xxvi.7. The Lord hath heard and looked on our 
oppression. 

The Slave Trade abolished, 1807. This is 
an event we record with tears of joy. This horrible 
traffic has been the means of destruction to vast 
numbers of the human race. It has been calculated, 
that the voracity of European avarice has been 
glutted with the number of 180,000,000 blacks 
since the commencement of this direful engine of 
cruelty. The names of Sharpe, Wilberforce, Fox, 
and others, will not be forgotten, while memory ever 
loves to cherish the recollection of humane exertions 
for the good of our fellow mortals. We have, how- 
ever, to regret, that the trade has been carried on 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 129 

clandestinely, and that under the flags of Spain and 
Portugal. In 1810, no less than from 70 to 80,000 
Africans were carried from the coast of Africa into 
a state of bondage on the American continent. A 
Bill, therefore, was brought into the House in 1811, 
to make the trading in slaves felony, and which, we 
trust, will have its desired effect. 

This day is celebrated for being the first anniver- 
sary meeting of the British and Foreign Bible So- 
ciety. Its nature, progress, and success are too well 
known to be noticed here. See page 67. 



May 2. 

Jer.xv. 16. Thy words were found, and I did eat them; 
and thy word was unto me the rejoicing of my heart. 

Luther entered into orders and discovered a 
Bible, 1507. The ignorance of the Scriptares at 
that time was astonishing. Conrad of Heresbacb^ 
a grave author of that age relates the following 
words from the mouth of a monk : " They have in- 
vented a new language, which they call Greek ; you 
must be carefully on your guard against it : it is the 
matter of all heresy. I observe in the haads of 
many persons a book written in that language, and 
which they call the New Testament. It is a book 
full of daggers and poison. As to the Hebrew, my 
brethren, it is certain that whoever learns it becomes 
immediately a Jew." It was in 1507, May 2, and 
in Luther's twenty-fourth year that he entered into 
orders and celebrated his first mass. This date is 
the more remarkable, because he discovered about 
the same time a Latin copy of the Bible lying in the 
G 5 



130 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

library of the monastery. He eagerly laid hold of 
this neglected book, and persevered in studying it 
with so much diligence, that he was able in a short 
time to refer with ease and promptitude to any par- 
ticular passage. In the present day, we can with 
difficulty conceive how a copy of the Bible could 
remain unnoticed by the whole of a religious fra- 
ternity, or that a person so respectably educated as 
Luther should be unapprised that the whole of the 
Scriptures was not read to the people in the public 
service of the church. It was with no small surprise 
that he discovered that there were many passages in 
the New Testament that were not thus read. The 
most striking of these Luther committed to memory, 
and treasured up with equal diligence many parts of 
the prophetic scriptures. 

What a happy contrast do these days form to 
those of Luther! Who is without a Bible now! 
If any, at least in our own country, is it not their 
own fault? 



May 3. 

Psalm cxlv. 5. I will speak of thy wondrous works. 

m cxi. 2. The works of the Lord are great, sought out 

of all them that have pleasure therein. 

The celebrated Linnaeus born, 1707. 

If the ingenuity and labour of man call forth our 
admiration, and deserve our praise, how much more 
the works of Him whose wisdom is unsearchable and 
power infinite. It is to be lamented, however, that 
many who have made great discoveries, and been 
justly celebrated for their deep researches into the 
works of God our Creator, have extolled the work, 
but forgotten the hand who formed it. With plea- 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 131 

sure, however, we can read an instance to the con- 
trary in the great Linnaeus. " The deeper he pene- 
trated into the secrets of nature, the more he ad- 
mired the wisdom of the Creator. He praised 
this wisdom in his works, recommended it by his 
speeches, and honoured it in his actions. Wherever 
he found an opportunity of expatiating on the great- 
ness, the providence, and omnipotence of God, 
which frequently happened in his lectures and bo- 
tanical excursions, his heart glowed with a celestial 
fire, and his mouth poured forth torrents of ad- 
mirable eloquence." This great man died on the 
10th of January, 1778. 

Sir Hans Sloane was also rendered illustrious 
for the beautiful collection he made of the produc- 
tions of nature and art ; his catalogue contained a 
description of 69,352 curiosities, a treasure which 
he said was destined to magnify God and benefit 
mankind. 



May 4. 

Psalm xciv. 20 v Which framcth mischief by a law. 

Budgell destroyed himself, 1736. It is of 
serious consequence when vice is countenanced by 
the higher powers; and when the law of the land 
suffers immorality to be rampant. The evil ex- 
ample of many, and the open violation of the rules 
of truth and decency are much to be deplored. So 
also the toleration of improper sentiments as well 
as language in our public places of amusement, 
forms a great objection to them. The indignation 
which Solon expressed on seeing the tragical repre- 
sentations of Thespis is well known ; and he sternly 



132 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 






observed, that if falsehood and fiction were tolerated 
on the stage, they would soon find their way amokig 
the common occupations of men. Even Addison's 
Cato contains poison, and is, as one observes, so 
much the more dangerous, because the destructive 
ingredient is concealed by the delightful admixture 
of sound taste and fine sentiment. But how does 
Cato die 2 and what was the effect of the exhibition 
on the mind of the uuhappy Mr. Budgell, who, on 
retiring, as it is supposed, from the theatre, plunged 
into the Thames, and was found with this defence 
onhis person : 

What Cato did, and Addison approved, 
Must needs be right. 



May 5. 

Psalm xxv. 19. They hate me with a cruel hatred. 

Wickliffe's doctrines condemned, 1415. The 
Council of Constance condemned forty-five articles, 
maintained by WickliiFe, as heretical, false, and 
erroneous. His bones were dug up and cast on a 
dunghill. But this part of the sentence was not 
executed till 1428, when orders were sent by the 
Pope to the Bishop of Lincoln to have it strictly 
performed. The remains of this excellent man were 
accordingly dug out of the grave, where they had 
lain undisturbed forty-four years : his bones were 
burnt, and the ashes cast into an adjoining brook 
called the Swift, which springs near Knaptoft in 
Leicestershire. Such was the resentment of the 
Romish church on the memory of him, who was 
called the first English Lollard, 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 133 

Wickliffe was the first Reformer, and England was 
honoured with being his birth-place; and through 
him to behold the first dawning of the Reformation. 
Happy for us, the doctrines maintained by this great 
man continue among us to this day, and light and 
truth are going forth with increasing energy in 
every direction. May it spread throughout the 
whole earth, and all the ends of the world see the 
salvation of God. 



May 6. 

Job ii. 3. Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there 

is none like him in the earth. 
James v. 11. Ye have heard of the patience of Job. 

This is the day chosen by the Greeks for the 
festival of Job. The character given by the Al- 
mighty himself places Job in a high point of view. 
St. Austin, admiring his invincible temper, says, that 
Job half dead upon the dunghill was stronger than 
Adam when immortal in paradise; for with indigna- 
tion he repulsed his wife, who was Satan's instru- 
ment to tempt him to despair and blasphemy. How 
graceful and amiable a spectacle, says Dr. Bates, 
is a patient saint. He attracts the eye and heart of 
God himself. What an honourable testimony pro- 
ceedeth from his mouth concerning Job, to vindicate 
his sincerity from the malice of the accuser. Un- 
paralleled saint ! who endured such a succession of 
tragical events with humility and submission ! The 
active holiness of his prosperous life is not recorded 
with that note of eminency and admiration as his 
patient sufferings, for which he is universally crowned 
with the praises of the saints in all ages. He is a 
spectacle that draws the regards of all, more famous 



134 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 



for his patience than his misery. It was the say in 
of a Platonic philosopher, Take away from the life 
of Hercules, the tyrants that he suppressed, and the 
fierce beasts he slew, his travels and combats wherein 
his courage was exercised and appeared, and you 
lessen his virtue, the hero is lost." He that, in the 
opinion of the heathen world, deserved a deity, 
and is crowned with stars in heaven, will not have 
a spark of glory on earth to preserve his fame alive. 
Thus, take away from Job the Chaldean and Sabean 
robbers, the shower of fire that consumed his estate, 
the whirlwind raised by infernal spirits, that de- 
stroyed his children, his diseases, and his cruel wife, 
the exercises of his insuperable patience, and the 
honourable remembrance of Job is lost. If the 
prince of darkness had not tried all his arts and 
strength to overcome him, and had not been foiled 
in his attempts, his graces had not been so illustri- 
ous. St. Peter declares, that the spirit of glory 
and of God rests upon suffering Christians. They 
are the temples of the Holy Spirit, wherein he dis- 
plays his divine virtue and glorious power. In 
short, God usually conducts his people to the sub- 
limest degrees of grace and glory by suffering ; the 
more they are tried and refined, the brighter their 
crowns will be." 



"g 



May 7. 

Romans xii. 16. Be not high-minded , but condescend to men 
of low estate. 

Trajan the Roman Emperor has set us an ex- 
ample of condescension and affability. He was equal 
indeed to the greatest generals of antiquity ; but the 
sounding titles of Optimus and the father of his 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 135 

country did not elate him. All the oldest soldiers 
he knew by their own name; he conversed with 
them with the greatest familiarity, and never retired 
to his tent before he had visited the camp. He 
refused the statues which the flattery of favourites 
wished to erect to him, and he ridiculed the follies 
of an enlighted nation that could pay adoration to 
cold inanimate pieces of marble. His public entry 
into Rome gained him the hearts of the people ; he 
appeared on foot, and shewed himself an enemy to 
parade and an ostentatious equipage. His wish to 
listen to the just complaints of his subjects distin- 
guished his palace by the inscription of the public 
palace. Here then was a practical explanation of 
a christian precept. Let those who call themselves 
Christians, in high situations, imitate the conduct of 
the pagan emperor. 



May 8. 

Joshua xxiv. 15. As for me and my house, we will serve 
the Lord. 

Such was the determination of Joshua; and such 
is the determination of all good men to whom God 
has committed the care of a family. The true 
Christian is ever desirous of having an altar in his 
house, that he may perpetually offer up his prayers 
and praises to his God and Saviour. But who can 
calculate the beneficial effects of religion. Multi- 
tudes will have reason for ever to be thankful for 
being directed to praying families. Relations, ac- 
quaintances, and neighbours, have often reaped the 
benefit. A family next door to the Rev. Mr. S. 
was sorely visited with the small pox, and there 
being but a slender partition between the two 



136 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

houses, when Mr. S. went to family duty, a woman 
in the sick family adjoining used to listen as well as 
she could, and made a hole that she might bear the 
more easily. It pleased God that by what she in 
this manner heard from Mr. S. in reading and pray- 
ing, she was so wrought upon as to become a serious 
Christian. 



May 9. 

Psalm lxxii. 19. And let the whole earth be filled with his 
glory. Amen and Amen. 

The Tract Society formed, 1792. 

Antoninus was one of the best of the Roman em- 
perors. He did not persecute the Christians like 
his predecessors, but his life was a scene of universal 
benevolence. Cecrops or Athens was held in high 
reputation, and attracted the attention of all the 
philosophers. But Antoninus discovered more than 
a local attachment, he looked upon all the universe 
as Worthy of his attention, and considered it as the 
object of his benevolence. " Shall any one/' says 
he, " love the city of Cecrops, and you not love the 
city of God/' But to what a still greater degree 
does the true Christian carry this sentiment. It is 
not a little favoured spot that he regards ; it is not 
an insulated portion of the globe that he would 
have fructified and converted into a paradise. It is 
not on his own garden or fields he wishes the re- 
freshing showers only to fall ; but with a noble, 
expansive, and generous mind, he prays that the 
whole earth may be filled with God's glory. Such 
a spirit produced this excellent society, the happy 
effects of which are felt in almost every direction. 
The number of Tracts circulated have been im- 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 137 

mense, and the good done incalculable. Abundance 
of instances might be related, had we room. May 
it continue to flourish, and become a still more ex- 
tensive engine to spread the knowledge of the truth 
among mankind. 



May 10. 

Psalm cxli. 5. Let the righteous smite me, it shall be a 

kindness. 
Ephes. iv. 3. Keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of 

peace. 

The Rev. William Whately, vicar of Ban- 
bury, died, 1639, in the 56th year of his age. He 
had been minister of this place for thirty years. 
His abilities for his work were more than ordinary. 
He was naturally eloquent, and had words at will. 
The character given of him is a practical exposition 
of the above words. " He lamented much to see 
what an unbecoming behaviour prevailed among 
Christians, merely from differences of opinion, while 
they were agreed in the fundamental truths of Chris- 
tianity. He was judiciously charitable himself to- 
wards those that appeared to be blessed with the 
power of godliness, though they were not of his 
judgment in all things. He was glad when any of 
the righteous smote him, and would take it well, 
not from his superiors and equals only, but from his 
inferiors, giving testimonies of his love to such after- 
wards, that he did not before." Let us imitate this 
example ; avoid a captious spirit, remembering what 
a blessed thing it is for brethren to dwell together 
in unity. 



138 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 



May 11. 

"Eccles. ix. 10. WhatsoeTer thine hand findcth to do, do it 
with all thy might. 

William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, died, 
1778. He was the grandson of Thomas Pitt, Esq. 
who sold an extraordinary fine diamond to the King 
of France for £135,000, and thus obtained the 
name of Diamond Pitt, The earl was a most 
accomplished orator as well as able statesman ; but 
what seemed most to characterise him, were his 
promptness and intrepidity. As it regarded the 
affairs of state, the above passage was truly exempli- 
fied in him. What others looked upon as impossi- 
bilities, he soon accomplished. As an instance of it, 
when a secret expedition was planned, he ordered 
every thing to be got ready by a certain day. He 
was answered by all the officers as a thing utterly 
impossible to be done. He immediately sent for 
his secretary, and after expressing his resentment 
at the ignorance or negligence of his majesty's 
servants, he gave the following commands : " I de- 
sire, Mr. Wood, that you will immediately go to 
Lord Anson : you need not trouble yourself to 
search the Admiralty, he is not to be found there ; 
you must pursue him to the gaming house, and tell 
him from me, that if he does not obey the orders of 
government which he has received at my hands, that 
I will most assuredly impeach him. Proceed from 
him to Lord Ligonier; and though he should be 
bolstered with harlots, undraw his curtains, and 
repeat the same message. Then direct your course 
to Sir Charles Frederick, and assure him, that if 
his majesty's orders are not obeyed, they shall be 
the last which he shall receive from me." In conse- 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 1S9 

quence of these commands, Mr. Wood proceeded to 
White's, and told his errand to the First Lord of 
the Admiralty, who insisted that the Secretary of 
State was out of his senses, and it was impossible 
to comply with his wishes; however (added he) as 
madmen must be answered, tell him that I will do 
my utmost to satisfy him. From thence he went 
to the Commander in Chief of the Forces, and 
delivered the same message. He also said that it 
was an impossible business ; and the secretary knows 
it (added the old Lord): nevertheless he is in the 
right to make us do what we can, and what is 
possible to do, inform him shall be done* The 
Surveyor General of the Ordnance was next in- 
formed of Mr. Pitt's resolution ; and, after some 
little consideration, he began to think that the 
orders might be completed within the time pre- 
scribed. The consequence at last was, that every 
thing, in spite of impossibilities themselves, was 
ready at the time appointed/' 

What an instructive lesson have we here. Let 
the Christian, let the minister, let the missionary, 
imitate this conduct in concerns of far more import- 
ance than what relates to this life. With a prompti- 
tude of mind, a persevering spirit, under divine 
assistance, what is there but may be done ] 

This day is also remarkable for the death of 
another Prime Minister, Mr. Perceval, who was 
shot by Bellingham, as he was going into the House 
of Commons, 1812. The assassin surrendered him- 
self, and was taken into custody. Upon examina- 
tion, he protested that he had neither personal 
enmity nor political animosity to Mr. P. ; but he 
had been an injured man, while in Russia; and 
having in vain addressed his Majesty's ministers 
for relief, had determined to revenge himself and 
punish them. On the Friday he was tried at the 



140 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 






Old Bailey, and made a very collected defence ; 
still denying any malicious intention, and depending 
confidently on that plea for his acquittal. He was, 
however, found guilty, and executed on the Monday 
morning. " What reflections," as one observes, 
" crowd upon us in reciting this event ! a man of 
amiable manners, and of splendid talents, filling the 
highest office in the British empire, surrounded with 
an affectionate wife and eleven children, cut ofF in 
a moment by assassination, while the criminal him 
self (also with a wife and several children) is hurried 
into eternity, under the awful influence of self- 
delusion, to meet that God who hath not oni 
forbiden murder under the most awful sanction 
but hath expressly said, Vengeance is mine, I will 
repay." 



l- 

| 



May 12. 

2 Cor. xii.9. My grace is sufficient for thee. 

The Rev. Thomas Wills died, 1802, aged 62. 
For several years he was minister of St. Agnes in 
Cornwall. He afterwards entered the connexion of 
Lady Huntingdon, and finally became minister of 
Silver Street Chapel. In all which places he was 
very useful. He preached with great pathos and 
energy, and was attended by a numerous congre- 
gation. He was once preaching from the above 
passage, when he mentioned the following circum- 
stances. A serious young woman was labouring 
under a strong temptation to put a period to her 
life by drowning herself. The enemy so far suc- 
ceeded, as to prevail on her to go to the river in 
order to put the dreadful plan into execution ; but 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 141 

as she was adjusting her clothes to prevent her from 
floating, she felt something in her pocket; it was 
her Bible; she thought she would take it out and 
look in it again for the last time. She did so; and 
the above-mentioned text immediately caught her 
eye. It was under the divine blessing applied with 
energy to her soul ; the snare was broken, the temp- 
tation was removed ; and she returned praising him 
who had given her the victory. But what was 
remarkable, the relation of this circumstance was 
rendered the mean of the conversion of a man and 
his wife then present ; and of effecting a similar de- 
liverance. These persons, it appeared, previous to 
this, had lived in a state of almost continual enmity ; 
and their habitation exhibited a scene of discord 
and confusion. In one of these unhappy seasons, 
the wife came to the dreadful determination of 
drowning herself. She accordingly left her house 
for the purpose, and came near the river, but it 
being too light, she feared on that account she 
should be detected. She therefore knew not where 
to go, till it grew darker. At length she spied a 
place of worship open ; she thought she would go 
in, and when the worship was over, it would be 
sufficiently dark to accomplish her purpose. She 
went in. Mr. W. was preaching, and as before 
observed, related the above-mentioned circumstance. 
She heard with attention, and returned horue quite 
another person. When she came home, her husband 
looked at her with surprise. Her countenance, 
which before was the index of a malevolent dis- 
position, now indicated the temper of the lamb. 
Struck with her appearance, her husband asked her 
where she had been] She told him. "And did 
you," says he, " see me there I*' She replied No. 
He added, " But I was, and blessed be God, I 
found his grace sufficient for me also." The reality 
of the change evidenced itself in their future lives 



142 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 



and conversation, which were such as became the 
gospel of Christ. Let not any then despond, while 
it is recorded in the Bible, " My grace is sufficient 
for thee." 



May 13. 

John i # 50. Thou shalt see greater things than these. 

Reilby Porteus, Bishop of London, died at 
Fuiham, 1809, in his 78th year. He was always a 
strenuous advocate for the abolition of the slave 
trade, and deserves great praise for the encourage- 
ment he gave to the instruction of the Negroes 
upon Mr. Lancaster's plan. He was also the presi- 
dent of the Society for the Suppression of Vice. 
His beneficence was great. He gave the interest 
of £6,700 in the three per cents, to be distributed 
annually to poor clergymen in the diocese of Lo'ndon, 
in sums not exceeding twenty pounds. He was a 
rigid ceconomist of his time. Unless illness pre- 
vented him, he rose constantly at six in the morning, 
and every part of the day had its proper occupation. 
But what will endear his memory to the lovers of 
Tevelation, was his ardent attachment to the British 
and Foreign Bible Society. The reason why we 
have chosen the above motto for this day is this. A 
little before the Bishop expired, he made some in- 
quiries as to the Bible Society, and on being told 
that they were successful, then, said he, you will see 
great things. Already has this prediction been in 
part accomplished, for never, perhaps, have so much 
wealth, so much talent, so much influence, so much 
piety, been combined before for the prosecution of 
an object the most noble that ever entered into the 
mind of mau. 



FftAGTICAL EXPOSITOR. 143 



May 14. 



Isa. xl. 6. The voice said, Cry. And he said what shall I 
cry ? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof ii 
as the flower of the field. 



The assassination of Henry IV. of France, 
1610. He was stiled " The Great/' on account 
of his many excellent qualities. His heart, and 
that of his queen, were deposited in a chapel be- 
longing to a college which was built by that mo- 
narch, at le Fleche, now in the department of 
Sarte. " The same* person/' says Dr. Bates, " some- 
times affords an example of the greatest prosperity 
and of the greatest misery in the space of a few 
hours.. * Thus Henry, in the midst of the triumphs 
of peace, was, by a blow from a sacrilegious hand, 
dispatched in his coach, and his bloody corpse for- 
saken by his servants, exposed to the view of all ; 
so that the historian observes, there was but a mo- 
ment between the adoration and oblivion of that 
great prince." 

Nor is this the only instance of the fall of worldly 
glory, and the infidelity and fickleness of man. 
Gratianus, a Roman soldier, was invested with the 
imperial purple by the army in Britain, in opposition 
to Honorius. He was assassinated four months 
after, by those very troops to whom he owed his 
elevation, A. D. 407. 



144 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 



May 15. 

Eccles. ii. 2. I said of laughter, It is mad : and of mirth* 
What doeth it ? 

Valentinian ll. died, A. D. 302. It is said 
he was fond of pleasures, but he shewed, notwith- 
standing this, a noble contempt of them. When his 
people complained of his too great attachment to 
them, he ordered all the festivals of the circus to 
be abolished, and all the wild beasts that were kept 
for the entertainment of the people to be slain. 
And what great value should we set upon the plea- 
sures of the world 1 " They pass away as soon as 
they have wearied out the body, and leave it as a 
bunch of grapes whose juice hath been pressed 
out ; which made one to say, " I see no greater 
pleasure in this world than the contempt of plea- 
sure/' Julian, though an apostate, yet professed, 
that the pleasures of the body were far below a great 
spirit. And Tully saith he is not worthy of the 
name of a man, that would entirely spend one whole 
day in pleasures.'' 

Voluptas, the goddess of sensual pleasures, was 
worshipped at Rome, where she had a temple. She 
was represented as a young and beautiful woman, 
well dressed and elegantly adorned, seated on a 
throne, and having virtue under her feet. This 
representation is just enough ; the love of pleasure 
is too often attended with the sacrifice of virtue* 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 145 



May 16. 

Prov. xiii. 7. There is that maketh himself rich yet hath 
nothing. 

John Ward of Hackney was expelled the House 
of Commons for forgery, 1726. This notorious cul- 
prit, after his expulsion, was consigned to the pil- 
lory ; on which disgraceful engine he was publicly 
exhibited, March 17, 1727, at a period when he 
was supposed to be worth at least £200,000. This 
circumstance occasioned Pope to observe, that 
riches are 

Given to the fool, the mad, the vain, the evil, 
To Ward, to Waters, Chartres, and the Devil. 

Chart res was a most abandoned wretch, notoriously 
infamous for the unblushing practice of every human 
villany ; but by a constant attention to the vices, 
wants, and follies of mankind, he acquired an im- 
mense fortune. His character is admirably drawn 
by Dr. Arbuthnot, who, towards the conclusion, 
exclaims, " O indignant reader, think not his life 
useless to mankind. Providence connived at his 
execrable designs, to give to after ages a conspicuous 
proof arid example of how small estimation is ex- 
orbitant wealth in the sight of God, by his be- 
stowing it on the most unworthy of all mortals." 
Chartres died in Scotland in 1731, aged 62. The 
populace, at his funeral raised a great riot, almost 
tore the body out of the coffin, and cast dead dogs, 
&c. &c. into the grave along with it. The great 
fortune of Waters, the third of these worthies, was 
accumulated by the like diligent attendance on the 
necessities and distresses of others e 
H 



146 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

How different the conduct of Maximilian II. who 
refused to hoard up a mass of treasure, fearing lest 
by falling in love with it from being a sovereign 
lord, he should become a servant to the mammon of 
unrighteousness. So let us learn to lay up trea- 
sures in heaven, and to pray for grace that we may 
set our affections on things above, and not on things 
on the earths 



May 17. 

I Sam. xxv, 33. Thou hast kept me this day from coming to 
shed blood. 

Catharine I. of Russia, a most extraordinary 
personage, died 1727, in her 40th year. She was 
the natural daughter of a country girl. She lost her 
mother at three years of age, and was left in so desti- 
tute a situation, that the clerk of the parish received 
her into his house. Being naturally attractive, she 
rose frome one step to another in such a wonderful 
manner, that at last she became espoused to Peter 
the Great. She gained such an ascendancy over 
him, that she seemed necessary not only to his com- 
fort but his existence. Her faults were many, but 
it is said she was never forgetful of her former con- 
dition, nor her former connections. When Wurmb, 
who had been tutor to Mr. Gluck's children at the 
time that Catharine was a domestic in that clergy- 
man's family, presented himself before her after her 
marriage with Peter had been publicly solemnized ; 
she recollected him, and addressed him with great 
complacency, " What, thou good man, art thou still 
alive? I will provide for thee." And she accordingly 
settled upon him a pension. She was no less atten- 
tive to the family of her benefactor Gluck, who 






PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 147 

died a prisoner at Moscow. She pensioned his 
widow; made his son a page; portioned the two 
eldest daughters ; and advanced the youngest to be 
one of her maids of honour. But the most noble 
part of her character, and which will serve as a kind 
of counterpart to the example referred to in the text 
above, was her peculiar humanity and compassion 
for the unfortunate. Motrave has paid a handsome 
tribute to this excellency. She had, in some sort, 
the government of all his (Peter's) passions; and 
even saved the lives of a great many more persons 
than Le Fort was able to do ; she inspired him with 
that humanity which, in the opinion of his subjects, 
he was entirely destitute. A word from her mouth 
in favour of a wretch just going to be sacrificed to 
his anger, would disarm him ; but if he was fully 
resolved to satisfy that passion, he would give orders 
for the execution when she was absent, for fear she 
should plead for the victim. In a word, to use the 
expression of the celebrated Munich, she was truly 
the mediator between the king and his subjects. 



May 18, 

Prov. vi. 17. The Lord hateth the hands that shed innocent 
blood. 

Field Marshal Suwarroff, the Russian general, 
died, 1800, more remarkable for his bravery than 
humanity. Warsaw, the capital of Poland, was 
taken by the Russians, Nov. 8, 1794. The action 
which preceded the surrender was extremely bloody : 
of 26,000 men, only 2,000 it is said, escaped the 
savage fury of the brutal Russians, 14,000 being 
killed, and 10,000 taken prisoners. The sanguinary 
Suwarroff, the Russian general, acting like an exter- 
H 2 



148 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

initiating angel, afterwards put no less than 20,00$ 
men, women, and children, to the sword in Praga 3 
one of the suburbs of Warsaw. 

Alas, what is human nature, and what a world is 
this of cruelty and blood ! Hasten, O Lord, the 
delightful period, when men shall learn war no more* 



May 19. 

Psalm lxxvi. 10. Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee* 

Anne Boleyn, the innocent queen of Henry 
VIII. beheaded at the Tower, 1536. She was maid 
of honour to Catharine, Henry's first wife, when he 
fell in love with her. Determining to marry her, he 
applied to the Pope for a divorce from Catharine. 
This was refused. And now see how things are 
overruled by an allwise Providence; and how the 
above passage is illustrated ; for this circumstance 
became the occasion of the Reformation in England. 
Henry being repulsed by the Pope, made him resolve 
at length to disown his authority, and to fling off 
his yoke. He waited no longer for a release from 
Rome, but married Ann Boleyn, whom three or four 
years afterwards he basely deserted for another, and 
had the unhappy Anne brought to execution. She 
behaved with great resolution at the block, taking 
care to spread her gown about her feet, that she 
might fall with decency as the poets have related of 
Polyxena, and the historians of Julius Caesar* 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 149 



May 20. 

Nehem. ii. 10. There was come a man to seek the welfare 
of the children of Israel. 

Miles Coverdale, Bishop of Exeter, one of 
the first English Reformers, died, 1567, aged 81. 
We cannot sufficiently admire the wisdom and good- 
ness of God in raising up eminent men when they 
are most wanted. This good bishop was one of the 
first, after the delivery of the Church of England 
from the See of Rome, who taught the purity of the 
gospel. He assisted Tindale and Rogers in the 
English version of the Bible, published in 1532 
and 1587, and which he afterwards revised and 
corrected, with notes, which was printed about 1540. 
Upon the accession, however, of bloody Queen Mary, 
he was ejected from his see and thrown into prison, 
out of which he was released by the earnest request 
of the King of Denmark, and as a very great favour 
permitted to go into banishment. Soon after Queen 
Elizabeth's accession to the throne, he returned from 
exile, but refused to be restored to his bishopric, 
and passed the remainder of his life in a private 
manner. He was buried in the church of St. Bar- 
tholomew by the Exchange. He was a very cele- 
brated preacher, justly admired, and very much 
followed. 

On this day also died the Rev. Thomas Boston, 
17^2, aged 56. His Fourfold State is considered as 
one of the best systems of practical divinity ever 
yet written. There were few men, it is said, in his 
day, courted popularity less than he did ; but, like 
the shadow, it followed him wherever he went. 
May such men as Coverdale and Boston be found in 
&very age! 

H 3 



150 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 



May 21, 

Psalm cxxvi. 3, The Lord hath done great things for us* 
whereof we are glad. 

Lord Sidmouth's Bill rejected, 1811. The 
object proposed by this bill was, it is said, to pre- 
vent the abuses of the Toleration Act ; but it 
seemed rather intended to prevent sectarianism ; 
and to abridge that religious liberty we have so long 
enjoyed. Petitions were presented from all parts 
against the bill ; and to the great joy of the friends 
of religious liberty, a great majority of the House 
of Lords determined it should not be read even a 
second time. Truly then we may say in the above 
language, God hath done great things for us. See 
July 29. 



May 22. 

Eccles. ix. 11. The race is not to the swift nor the battle to 
the strong. 

The battle of the Granicus, B. C. 384, in which 
Alexander, with thirty thousand Macedonians de- 
feated six hundred thousand Persians. The Granicus 
was a river of Mysia in Asia Minor. It was deep, 
and its banks craggy and steep ; so that the forces 
of Darius had a considerable advantage, had they 
known how to have used it. Alexander himself 
commanded the right wing of his army, and Par- 
menio, his confidential general, the left. It was in 
this engagement that the gallant Clitus saved the life 
of Alexander, who in one of his fits of inebriation^ 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 151 

afterwards slew him with a javelin, Alexander, 
says Plutarch, snatched it from one of the guards, 
and meeting Clitus, ran him through the body. He 
fell immediately to the ground, and with a dismal 
groan expired. Alexander's rage subsided in a 
moment : he came to himself; and seeing his friends 
standing in silent astonishment; he hastily drew the 
spear out of the dead body, and was applying it to 
his own throat, when his guards seized his hands 
and carried him by force into his chamber. He 
passed that night and the next day in anguish in- 
expressible ; and when he had wasted himself with 
tears and lamentations, he lay in speechless grief, 
uttering only now and then a groan. His friends, 
alarmed at this melancholy silence, forced themselves 
into the room, and attempted to console him. But 
he would listen to none of them except Aristander, 
who put him in mind of his dream, and the ill omen 
of the sheep, and assured him that the whole was by 
the decree of fate. As he seemed a little comforted, 
Calisthenes the philosopher, Aristotle's near relation, 
and Anaxarchus the Abderite, were called in. Ca- 
listhenes began, in a soft and tender manner, endea- 
vouring to relieve him, without searching the wound. 
But Anaxarchus, who had a particular walk in philo- 
losophy, and looked upon his fellow labourers in 
science with contempt, cried out on entering the 
room, "Is this Alexander, upon whom the whole 
world have their eyes ] Can it be he who lies ex- 
tended on the ground crying like a slave, in fear of 
the law, and the tongues of men, to whom he should 
be himself a law, and the measure of right and 
wrong? What did he conquer for but to rule and 
to command, not servilely to submit to the vain 
opinions of men? Know you not (continued he) 
that Jupiter is represented with Themis and Justice 
by his side, to show that whatever is done by su- 
preme power is right/' By this and other discourses 
Ii 4 



152 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 



of the same kind, he alleviated the king's grief in- 
deed, but made him withal more haughty and unjust. 
At the same time he insinuated himself into his favor 
In so extraordinary a manner, that he could no longer 
bear the conversation of Calisthenes, who before was 
not very agreeable on account of his austerity ." 
Parmenio and his son were a] so put to death by 
Macedonia's madman, upon a slight accusation of 
treason against his person. 

We might here select many other instances to 
illustrate the passage chosen for this day. It should 
teach us that whatever means we make use of we 
should never be too confident. The lot is cast 
into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of 
the Lord, 



May 23, 

Job x. 12. Thy visitation hath preserved my spirit. 

Colonel Gardiner wonderfully preserved m 
the battle of Ramillies, 1706. The Duke of Marl- 
borough gained the victory over the French at this 
place, about ten miles north of Namur, in the Ne- 
therlands. In this memorable engagement, Ensign 
Gardiner, then in the nineteenth year of his age, 
received a shot in his mouth from a musket ball, 
which, without beating out any of his teeth, or ; 
touching the forepart of his tongue, went through 
his neck, and came out about an inch and a half on 
the left side of the vertebrae. He felt no pain, but 
dropped soon after, and lay all night on the spot 
where he had been wounded, among his dying com- 
panions ; he however recovered in an almost mira- 
culous manner, and became from a most profligate 
youth, a character emineut for piety. 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 153 

The Colonel was, however, at last slain in the 
battle at Preston Pans, 1745. Though twice wounded 
he continued in the field animating his men, for it is 
said of him that from his youth he entertained a 
great antipathy to flight. He received a blow with 
a broad sword which put an end to his existence. 
Christian, imitate this excellent man, and in a 
spiritual sense hate the thought of flight; having 
done all, stand. 



May- 24. 

2 Tim. iv. 2. Preach the word, be instant. in season, out of 
season. 

Bishop Jkwel born, 1522. He was very dili- 
gent in his studies from a very early period. It was 
his custom to write something every day, observing 
that men acquired more learning by a frequent exer- 
cise of their pens than by reading many books. He 
had a most extraordinary memory, so that he could 
exactly repeat whatever he wrote after once reading. 
He was a most laborious preacher, always travelling 
about his diocese, and preaching wherever he came ; 
wherein he laboured to speak to the apprehensions 
of the people, hating all light gingling discourses and 
phrases, as beneath the dignity of his sacred office ; 
yet he was careful here too in the choice of his 
words, and endeavoured to move the affections of 
his auditory by pathetic and zealous applications, 
avoiding all high-flown expressions, and using a 
grave and sedate, rather than sweet way of speaking 
to them. 

Being naturally of a spare and thin body, and 
thus restlessly wearing it out with reading, writing, 
preaching, and travelling, he hastened his deaths 
H 5 



154 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 






which took place before he was full fifty years of 
age ; of which he had a strong presentiment a con- 
siderable time before it happened, and wrote of it 
to several of his friends, but would by no means be 
persuaded to abate any thing of his former excessive 
labours, saying, " A bishop should die preaching, 
having these words impressed upon his mind, 
" Happy art thou, my servant, if when I come, I 
find thee so doing." 



May 25. 

Psalm cxlv. 9. The Lord is good to ail, and his tender 
mercies are over all his works. 

Dr. William Paley, Archdeacon of Carlisle, 
died 1805, aged 62. His works in favour of Chris- 
tianity have been very popular. He was a warm 
advocate for the doctrine of divine benevolence ; as 
the following illustration of the above text will shew. 
" At this moment, and in every given moment of 
time, how many myriads of animals are eating their 
food, gratifying their appetites, ruminating in their 
holes, accomplishing their wishes, pursuing their 
pleasures, taking their pastimes? In each individual 
how many things must go right for it to be at ease ; 
yet how large a proportion out of every species, 
are so in every assignable instant 1 Throughout the 
whole of life, ease as it is diffused in nature, and 
as far as we are acquainted with it, looking to the 
average of sensations, the plurality and prepondency 
is in favour of happiness by a vast excess. In our 
own species, in which perhaps the assertion may be 
more questionable than in any other, the prepon- 
dency of good over evil, of health, for example, and 
ease over pain and distress, is evinced by the very 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 155 

notice which calamities excite. What inquiries does 
the sickness of our friends produce ] What conver- 
sation their misfortunes 1 This shews that the com- 
mon course of things is in favour of happiness ; that 
happiness is the rule ; misery the exception. Were 
the order reversed, our attention would be called to 
examples of health and competency, instead of dis- 
ease and want. One great cause of our insensibility 
to the goodness of the Creator is the very extensive- 
ness of his bounty. We prize but little, what we 
share only in common with the rest, or with the 
generality of our species. When we hear of bless- 
ings, we think forthwith of successes, of prosperous 
fortunes, of honours, riches, preferments, i. e. of 
those advantages and superiorities over others, which 
we happen either to possess, or to be in pursuit of, 
or to covet. The common benefits of our nature 
entirely escape us. Yet these are the great things. 
These constitute what most properly ought to be 
accounted blessings of Providence. Nightly rest 
and daily bread, the ordinary use of our limbs* and 
senses, and understandings, are gifts which admit of 
no comparison with any other. Yet because almost 
every man we meet with possesses these, we leave 
them out of our enumeration. They raise no sentk 
ment, they move no gratitude. Now herein is our 
judgment perverted by our selfishness. A blessing 
ought in truth to be the more satisfactory, the 
bounty at least of the donor is rendered more con- 
spicuous by its very diffusion, its commonness, its 
cheapness ; by its falling to the lot, and forming the 
happiness of the great bulk and body of our species, 
as well as of ourselves. Nay, even when we do not 
possess it, it ought to be a matter of thankfulness 
that others do. But we have a different way of 
thinking. We court distinction. That I don ? t 
quarrel with; but we can see nothing but what lias 
distinction to recommend it. This necessarily con- 
H 6 3 



156 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 



tracts our view of the Creator's beneficence within a 
narrow compass; and most unjustly. It is in those 
things which are so common as to be no distinction, 
that the amplitude of the divine benignity is per- 
ceived." 



a 



May 26. 

Gen. xlix. 19. A troop shall overcome him, but he shall 
overcome at the last. 

Jerome of Prague recanted the errors of Popery* 
1416. Jerome was neither a monk nor a clergy- 
man, but had a learned education. Being of a 
timid disposition, and exposed to the most violent 
threatenings and opposition, he retracted and pre- 
tended to approve of the condemnation of WickiifiVs 
and Huss's opinions. He soon saw, however, that 
he had done wrong, and therefore condemned this 
recantation altogether. " I am not ashamed," said 
he, " to confess my base cowardice. It was only 
the dread of the punishment by fire which drew me 
to consent against my conscience to the condemna- 
tion of Wickliffe and Huss." His enemies were 
determined to punish him, to whom he said, " I cite 
you all to answer me before the Most High and the 
most just Judge within a hundred years." Jerome 
was condemned to the flames : but he met all with 
great resignation and courage. He embraced the 
stake, to which he was fastened with wet cords. 
When the executioner went behind him to set fire 
to the pile, " Come here," said the martyr, *' and 
kindle it before mine eyes ; for if I dreaded such 
a sight, I should never have come to this place, 
when I had a free opportunity to escape." The fire 
was kindled ; and he then sung a hymn which was 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 157 

soon finished by the encircling flames. He cried 
out several times, " Into thine hands, O Lord, I 
commend my spirit." His last sentence that could 
be distinguished was, " O Lord God, the Father 
Almighty, have mercy upon me, and forgive all my 
sins. Thou know est with what sincerity I have 
loved thy truth." He seemed to endure much by 
the fire for the space of a quarter of an hour, all 
the while seeming by the motion of his lips to pray 
within himself. His bed, clothes, and other things* 
were consumed in the fire, and, together with his 
ashes, were cast into the Rhine, which runs by the 
city. 

We may learn from the above, what the best of 
men are when left to themselves ; and we may learn 
also, that after all our weakness and infirmity, the 
grace of God can render us valiant and courageous. 
Let none, therefore, despair because they have been 
once overcome by the enemy. " Gad, a troop shall 
overcome him, but he shall overcome at the last." 



May 27. 

Psalm Ixxxix. 46. How long, Lord ? 

John Calvin, the celebrated Reformer, died^ 
1564. He was a man of eminent talents and ex- 
tensive learning, but not of strong constitution. 
He was faint, thin, and consumptive. For ten years 
together he abstained from dinners to avoid the 
head-ache, to which he was very subject. In the 
latter part of his life he was successively tortured 
with the gout, the cholic, the stone, and other 
painful disorders. Notwithstanding which, he never 
uttered a word unbecoming the Christian or the 



153 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 



divine: only lifting up his eyes to heaven, he used 
to say, " How long, Lord V which was also his usual 
expression when he heard of the calamities of the 
church, for which he felt no less than for his own 
afflictions. 



- 



May 28. 



Rom. xii. 19. Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the 
Lord* 



Cardinal Beaton, the Bonner of Scotland, 
was assassinated in the castle of St. Andrew. The 
immediate cause of this murder was his severity to 
the Reformers, and particularly the barbarous and 
illegal execution of the famous George Wishart, a 
popular preacher, whom the cardinal condemned to 
the flames alive for heresy ; and he exultingly be- 
held from his own window the dismal spectacle of 
Wishart's sufferings and death. 

The manner of Beaton's death was this: Melvin, 
a man that had been very familiar with Wishart, 
coming up to him, and presenting him the point of 
his sword, said, " Repent thee of thy former wicked 
life, but especially of shedding the blood of that 
noble instrument of God, Mr. Wishart, who though 
he was consumed by the fire before men, yet cries 
for vengeance upon thee ; and we are sent to re- 
venge it ; for here before God I protest, that neither 
the hatred of thy person, the love of thy riches, nor 
the fear of any hurt thou couldst have done me, 
moveth me to strike thee ;' but only because thou 
hast been, and still remainest, an obstinate enemy 
against Jesus Christ and his holy gospel; and so 
thrust him through the body, who falling down> 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 159 

spake never a word but, " I am a priest, I am a 
priest. Fie, fie, all is gone." 

This conduct, however, is not to be justified, for 
killing men without law in this manner must be con- 
sidered as murder ; and it is not what Wishart him- 
self would have approved. The judgment however 
was awful to Beaton. 



May 29, 

Numb, xxxii. 23. And be sure your sin will find you out. 

The Rev. T. English died, 1809, aged 58. Mr 5 
English was an excellent man ; and 31 years pastor 
of the church at Wooburn, Bucks. He has left us 
in his diary the following very striking illustration of 
the above passage. 

I was once, says he, applied to by a stranger, in a 
place where I was labouring for a few Sabbaths only, 
for a sight of a letter which I had received calum- 
niating his character. I looked at the man and 
pitied him, and coolly replied, It would be a breach 
of the common principles of society, to show confi- 
dential letters written to us for the purpose of our 
doing people good. He retorted in an angry tone, 
" I demand a sight of it, Sir, as an act of justice 
due to an injured man/' I replied, How did you 
know that I have received a letter concerning you ] 
* Know (said he), it was impossible not to know it, 
your language and manner were so pointed, that it 
was impossible I should be deceived." I rejoined, 
Do not be too positive ; you have been deceived 
before now I suppose ; you may be so again. " It 
is not possible (said he): you described the sin of 
which I am accused in the clearest language ;" and 



160 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

looking me in the face, and pointing towards me* 
*' You said, Sinner, be sure your sins will find you 
out: I therefore expect from you, Sir, as a gentle- 
man and a christian minister, that you will give me 
a sight of the letter, that I may know its contents 
and repel its charges." I observed, I do not know 
your name ; to my knowledge I never saw you be^ 
fore ; and as you have not told me in what part of 
the sermon it was I was so pointed, if I show you 
any letter I may show you the wrong one; 1 shall 
therefore certainly not exhibit any of my letters to 
you, nor satisfy you whether I have received any one 
about you, till you describe the case alluded to. 
He hesitated, but afterwards described the sin of 
which he was accused. When he had finished, 
looking him full in the eyes, assuming a solemn atti- 
tude, and using a grave and serious tone of voice, 
I said, Can you look me full in the face, as you must 
your Judge at the great day of God, and declare 
that you are innocent of the sin laid to your charge 1 
He trembled, turned pale, and his voice faultered ; 
guilt and anger struggling in his breast, like the fire 
in the bowels of Mount iEtna, and summoning up 
his remaining courage, — u I am not bound to make 
any man my confessor; and if I were guilty, no man 
has a right to hold me up to public observation as 
you have done." I assumed a benignity of counte- 
nance, and softened my tones, saying, Do you be- 
lieve the passage I cited — " Be sure your sins will 
find you out" — is the word of God 1 He answered, 
It may be. Surely it is, said I ; he that made the 
ear, shall he not hear ; he that made the eye shall 
he not see;~can he have any difficulty in bringing 
your sin* to light ? — Now I will tell you honestly I 
never received any letter or information about you 
whatever; but I am persuaded your sin has found 
you out ; the preaching of the word is one method 
by which God makes men's sins find them out 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 261 

Let me entreat you seriously to consider your state 
and character ; who can teli^ God may have intended 
this sermon for your good ; he may mean to have 
mercy upon you; this may be the means of saving 
your body from the gallows, and your soul from 
hell; but let me remind you you are not there yet, 
there still is hope. He held down his head, clenched 
his hands one into the other, and bursting into tears 3 
said, "I never met with any thing like this — L am 
certainly obliged to you for your friendship — I am 
guilty; and hope this conversation will be of essential 
advantage to me V f 



May 30. 

Psalm xxvi. 3. For thy loving-kindness is before mine eyes j 
and I have walked in thy truth. 

Dr. Conder, tutor of Homerton Academy, and 
pastor of the church on the Pavement, Moorfields, 
died, 1781, aged 67. He was baptized by his 
grandfather, who with tears kissed him, and said, 
" Who knows what sad days these little eyes are, 
likely to see/' — things wearing at that time a threat- 
ening aspect. But in two months after the clouds 
broke with Queen Anne's death, and fair days suc- 
ceeded. " So that (as Dr. C. remarked upon men- 
tioning the above circumstance) these eyes have, for, 
more than sixty years, seen nothing but goodness 
and mercy following me and the churches of Christ 
even to this day." About six weeks before his dis- 
solution he said to a friend, " How long I may have 
to suffer e'er I get my dismission, I cannot say. I 
desire to leave it. But I bless God I can say wit!* 
Dr. Grosvenor, "that I have no doubt but that ail 



162 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

all things are rightly settled between me and my 
Master ; and all that I am now concerned about* is 
to take a decent farewell of the world.'' 



May 31. 

Mark vii.2l. Out of the heart proceedeth murders* 

On the morning of this day, 1813, Mr. and Mrs. 
Bonar of Chislehurst, persons of great respecta- 
bility, were found murdered in their own house, 
though Mrs. B. was still breathing. The circum- 
stance at first appeared full of mystery ; but the 
footman, P. Nicholson, being apprehended on suspi- 
cion, cut his throat, though not fatally, and has since 
confessed himself to be the murderer, but utterly 
denies any premeditated design. The account that 
he gives is, that on the Sunday night (May 30), he 
slept on a form in the servants* hall, from which he 
dropped about three o'clock, and waking, was in- 
stantaneously seized with an idea, which he could 
not resist, that he would murder his master and 
mistress ! This he unhappily effected with a poker 
from the hall, though not without considerable re- 
sistance from his master, who was awakened by the 
first blow. He then washed himself, concealed his 
bloody clothes, and went to bed by four o'clock, but 
did not go to sleep. He was shortly after appre- 
hended, tried, condemned and executed. 

Thus it seems Satan is come down in great wrath, 
since nothing can exceed the heinousness of the 
crimes lately committed. When shall this enemy be 
cast out, and truth and peace, love and righteous- 
ness universally prevail, 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 163 



June 1. 

Psalm xc 6. In the morning it flourisheth and groweth up ; 
in the evening it is cut down and withereth. 

Miss Carolyne Symmons expired, 1803. She 
was born, April 12, 1789. From her infancy she 
discovered indications of extraordinary powers of 
intellect. At a period of life in which grace and 
beauty are seldom so much disclosed as to interest 
any eyes, except those of the relative or the friend, 
she was strikingly endowed with both. The poets, 
Spenser and Milton, were her prime favourites. In 
February 1803, a cough accompanied with fever, 
had reduced her to the lowest state of weakness, 
without, however, in the slightest degree affecting 
her spirits or her temper ; and on the first of June 
the terrible blow which had so long been suspended 
fell; and her gentle spirit returned to God that 
gave it. The two following poems, both written in 
her eleventh year, seem almost prophetic of her own 
melancholy fate. 

Zelida, and the faded Rose Bush which grew near 
her Tomb, 

X gaz'd on the rose bush and heav'd a sad sigh, 
And my eyelid was gemm'd with a tear : 

O let me, I cried, by my Zelida lie, 
For all that I value sleeps here. 

Her sweetness, simplicity, virtue, and charms, 
Could with nought but a seraph's compare. 

Ah ! now since my Zelida's torn from my arms, 
There's nothing I love but despair. 

This rose bush once flourished and sweeten' d the air, 

Like its blossoms all lovely she grew, 
The scent of her breath, as its fragrance, was rare, 

And her cheeks were more fresh than its hue. 



164 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

She planted, she loved it, she dew'd its gay bead 4 * 

And its bloom every rival defied ; 
But alas ! what was beauty or virtue soon fled, 

In spring they both blossomed and died. 

And now for my bosom this life has no charms, 

I feel all its troubles and care ; 
For since my dear Zelida's rent from my arms* 

There's nothing I love but despair. 

On a blighted Rose-bud. 

Scarce had thy velvet lips imbibed the dew, 
And nature hailed thee infant queen of May : 
Scarce saw the opening bloom the sun's broad ray | 

And to the air its tender fragrance threw ; 

When the north-wind enamoured of thee grew, 
And by his cold rude kiss thy charms decay, 

Now drops thy head, now fades thy blushing hue, 
No more the queen of flowers, no longer gay. 

So blooms a maid, her guardian's health and joy • 
Her mind array 'd in innocency's vest. 

When suddenly impatient to destroy, 

Death clasps her vigour to his iron breast. 

She fades : the parent, sister, friend deplore, 

The charms and budding virtues now no more ! 



June 2» 

Exod. xx. 2. I am the Lord thy God. 

The Rev. Ebenezer Erskine died, 1754* 
aged 73. During his last illness, a friend calling on 
him, said, " Sir, you have given us many good 
advices, pray what are you now doing with your 
own soul?" " I am doing with it," said he, " what 
I did forty years ago ; I am resting upon that word, 
/ am the Lord thy God, and ou this I mean to die/' 
To apother he said, " The covenant is my charter^ 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR 165 

and if it had not been for that blessed word, J ant 
the Lord thy God, my hope and strength had 
perished from the Lord." The night on which he 
died, his eldest daughter was reading in the room 
where he was, to whom he said, " What book is 
that you are reading, my dear." " It is one of your 
sermons, Sir." ''What one is it?" " It is the 
sermon on that text, / am the Lord thy God." 
" O woman," said he, " that is the best sermon I 
ever preached." And it was most probably the 
best to his soul. A little afterward with his finger 
and thumb he shut his own eyes, and laying his 
hand below his cheek, breathed out his soul into the 
hands of his living Redeemer. Happy the man that 
is in such a state, happy the man whose God is 
the Lord, 



June 3. 

Gen. i. 16. He made the stars also. 

Transit of Venus, 1769. In consequence of a 
memorial which the Royal Society presented to the 
King in 1763, setting forth the advantages that 
would be derived from science, if an accurate ob- 
servation of the approaching transit of Venus over 
the sun were taken in the South Sea, a vessel called 
the Endeavour was prepared for that purpose, and 
the command of her given to Lieutenant James 
Cook. The ship sailed in July 1768, touched at 
Madeira and Rio de Janeiro, doubled Cape Horn, 
and after a prosperous voyage reached Otaheite, the 
place of destination, in April, 1769. By a com- 
parison of the observations made on this transit from 
the various parts of the globe on which it was 
viewed by men of science, the system of the universe 



166 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 






lias in some particulars been better understood! 
the distance of the sun from the earth, as calculated 
by this and the transit in 176 », is now settled at 
108,000,000, instead of the commonly received com- 
putation at 95,000,000 miles. 

The grand object of the voyage being accom- 
plished, Mr. Cook circumnavigated the globe, touch- 
ing in his course at New Zealand, New Holland, 
Batavia, the Cape of Good Hope, and St. Helena; 
and in June 1771 he arrived in the Downs, after ex- 
periencing many disastrous events. 

Venus is near as large as the earth, and moves 
round the sun in 224| of our days. She has two 
winters and two summers, and most probably is in- 
habited. " When (says Mr, Hervey) an innumera- 
ble multitude of bodies, many of them more than a 
hundred thousand miles in diameter, are all set in 
motion, when the orbits, in which they perform their 
periodical revolutions are extended at the rate of 
several hundreds of millions, when each has a dis- 
tinct and separate sphere for finishing his vast cir- 
cuit ; when no one knows what it is to be cramped, 
but each most freely expatiates in his unbounded 
career; when every one is placed at such an im- 
mense remove from each other, that they appear to 
their respective inhabitants as so many spots of 
light, how astonishing must be the expanse which 
yields room for all these mighty globes, and their 
widely diffused operations. To what prodigious 
lengths did the Almighty builder stretch his line, 
when he marked out the stupendous platform. I 
wonder at such an immeasurable extent. My very 
thoughts are lost in this abyss of space. But be it 
known to mortals, be it never forgotten by sinners, 
that in all its most surprising amplitude, it is scanty 
compared with the bounty and the mercy of its 
Makers 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 16? 



June 4. 

Psalm xxxix. 4. Lord make me to know mine end, and the 
measure of my days, what it is, that I may know how frail 
I am. 

His present Majesty, King George HI. born, 
1738. It is reported of a noble foreigner, that on 
his birth-day, reflecting upon the age of his life, he 
was surprised with grief and struck with astonish- 
ment, that without a due sense of the proper business 
and end of life, he was arrived to that age when our 
days begin to decline. In an instant all things. 
seemed to change appearance in his view. Then 
first (says he) I perceived I was man, for before I 
had not resolved for what I should employ my life. 
The issue was, a serious resolution unfeignedly to 
follow God, sincerely to confess Christ, to place his 
felicity in holiness of life, and most zealously to 
follow it. The reflections of Henry IV. of France 
on his birth-day are well known. 

Let the return of the anniversary of our birth 
day remind us of our mortality; for whether we are 
kings or beggars, we must all go unto one place. 



June 5. 

Mark xvi. 15. Go ye into all the world, and preach the 
gospel to every creature. 

Boniface murdered, A. t>. 754, by the Pagans 
in East Friesland. Fifty of his ecclesiastics shared 
the same fate. He was a Benedictine monk. Before 
he took the name of Boniface he was called Winifred. 
He was born at Kirton in Devonshire. He adopted 



168 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 






the life of a missionary to disseminate the gospel 
among barbarous nations, and though he was created 
Archbishop of Mentz in Germany, he soon after re- 
signed his office, and became an itinerant preacher 
m the country, where, as above stated, he was mur- 
dered by the ungrateful inhabitants, He obtained 
the appellation of the Apostle of the Germans. 

Though we cannot applaud altogether the conduct 
of Boniface in many instances; yet his missionary 
spirit ought to be commended. The dreadful evils 
of paganism have not tain with sufficient weight on 
the minds of our prelates so as to rouse them to that 
exertion and activity which ought to be displayed by 
christian ministers for the salvation of those who are 
perishing for lack of knowledge. 



June 6 e 

Rom. xiii. 13. Walk not in rioting 

In the evening of this day, 1780, the house of 
Lord Mansfield in Bloomsbury Square was burnt 
to the ground, with his fine library, manuscripts, 
and other valuable effects, by the savage fury of a 
brutal mob. A protestant association, with Lord 
George Gordon at their head, while the nation was 
involved in real danger, alarmed themselves with 
fancied apprehensions of popery, presented a pe- 
tition, signed by 100,000 persons to repeal an act 
they had just passed in favour of the Catholics. 
They proceeded to the House in great order on the 
2nd of June, and the president gave in their petition , 
but in the course of the day, several lords and com- 
moners were insulted by the mob. In the evening 
the mob pulled down the Sardinian and another 
Romish chapel. Not only Lord Mansfield's, but 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 169 

several other houses were sacked. The King's 
Bench prison, the New Bridewell, the Fleet prison, 
some popish chapels, and several papist's houses 
were destroyed. Fires were seen blazing in every 
part of the capital, and the lawless mob were exact- 
ing contributions from the citizens, while the ma- 
gistrates and even the ministry viewed these scenes 
of desolation with an inactivity that was astonishing. 
At length, however, their courage seemed roused, 
troops were called into London from all quarters, 
and were stationed in every part of the town. This 
step effectually checked the progress of the rioters, 
a great number of whom were shot by the military, 
and others were taken, tried and executed. Lord 
George Gordon was also tried, but acquitted. 



June 7. 



Prov. xvii, 14. Leave off contention before it be meddled 
with. 

William Warburton, Bishop of Gloucester, 
died, 1779. He was a man of sublime genius and 
vast learning ; but so supercilious towards his adver- 
saries, that it lessened his character in a great degree. 
He was considered as a kind of literary giant, and 
shewed but little of the meekness and gentleness of 
Christ. He held a literary contest with Bishop 
Lowth. These two combatants engaged with eru- 
dition and ingenuity, such as are seldom brought 
into conflict. But after all, it is said that neither of 
them had much argument, and both were extremely 
abusive. Is not this often the case? While men are 
contending in their own spirit, truth is as it were 
offended, and slips away unseen till the parties be- 
I 



170 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

come more candid and cool. It is said, however, 
of these combatants, that when they both arrived to 
the episcopal office, they became quiet and were re- 
conciled. 



June 8. 

2 Samuel xxiii. 10. The Lord wrought a great victory that 
day. 

Edward the Black Prince died, 1376, in the 
46th year of his age. He is reckoned the greatest 
hero in the English annals, and was also, it is said, 
illustrious for every virtue. To him the famous 
victory over the French at Cressy whs chiefly owing, 
the king his father leaving him the honour of it. 
Philip was wounded in the neck and thigh, and being 
forced to retire, the victory was soon completed. 
There was slain in this battle, the King of Bohemia, 
who was blind ; the Earl of Alenson, Philip's 
brother ; the Duke of Lorrain ; the Earls of Flan- 
ders and Blois ; 1500 other eminent noblemen, and 
120 knights, and above 80 French standards taken. 
It is said in this famous battle the English first made 
use of cannon, then unknown to the French. 



June 9. 

2 Cob,, vi. 4. In all things approving ourselves as the minis- 
ters of God in much patience. 

Expired at Chelsea, 1760, Count Zinzen- 
DORFF, one of the chief of the religious sect called 
United Brethren or Moravians. The count spared 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 171 

no pains to promote the welfare of this community. 
He went himself over Europe, and twice to America. 
The good that has been done by the missionaries be- 
longing to the Brethren has long been known. They 
are remarkable for their patient and quiet spirit. 
While others have enjoyed their ease at home, these 
good men have gone to the most inhospitable climes, 
and by their patience and perseverance have done 
wonders. Many very pleasing instances might here 
be recorded ; one shall suffice. " We can truly 
say," observes a missionary, " that among the very 
considerable number of Esquimaux who live with us, 
we know of few who are not seriously desirous to 
profit by what they hear, and to experience and 
enjoy themselves that which they see their country- 
men possess. Our communicants give us pleasure, 
for it is the wish of their very hearts to live unto 
the Lord, and their conduct affords proofs of the 
sincerity of their professions ; thus for example, 
Esquimaux sisters, who have no boat of their own, 
venture across bays some miles in breadth, sitting 
behind their husbands on their narrow kajaks, in 
order to be present at the holy sacrament, though at 
the peril of their lives." What a lesson is this for 
those who live near, and make any trifling thing an 
excuse. 



June 10. 

Acts xvi. 25. Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto 
God, and the prisoners heard them. 

The Rev. John Spilsbury, vicar of Broms- 
grove, died, 1699. After he had been imprisoned 
some time in the county jail for conscience sakr s 
12 



172 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

and was released, he said in the hearing of some 
particular friends for their encouragement, " I shall 
not henceforward fear a prison as formerly, because 
I had so much of my heavenly Father's company as 
made it a palace to me." Thus, like Paul and Silas, 
though his liberty was taken from him, yet his joy 
and peace remained. He who is the omnipresent 
God cannot be confined to place. Wherever his 
suffering people are, he can support them. Hence, 
says Mr. Bates, " The martyrs dearly embraced the 
cross of Christ, and prized the thorns of his crown 
more than all the roses of pleasure, than all the 
diadems of earthly dignity, in expectation of the 
blessed reward. Tertullian wrote to the noble con- 
fessors of Christ that were imprisoned in Africa, 
* How willingly would we change our prosperity for 
your precious miseries'." 



June 11. 

Prov. viii. 15. By me kings reign and princes dercee justice. 

King George I. died, 1727, as he was going to 
Hanover in his 68th year. He was 54 years old 
when he ascended the British throne. His mature 
age, his sagacity and experience, his numerous 
alliances, and the general tranquillity of Europe, 
all contributed to establish his interests, and promise 
him a peaceable and happy reign. His virtues, 
though not shining, were solid ; and he was of a 
very different disposition from the Stuart family 
whom he succeeded. These were known to a pro- 
verb for leaving their friends in extremity; George, 
on the contrary, soon after his arrival in England, 
was heard to say, " My maxim is, never to abandon 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 173 

my friends, to do justice to all the world, and to 
fear no man." 

On this day, also, 1793, died the celebrated Dr, 
Robertson the historian. 



June 12. 

I CoR.vii. 35. That ye may serve the Lord without dis- 
traction. 

How difficult is it to live in obedience to this 
apostolic injunction. Our eyes, ears, feelings, are 
all inlets to the imagination. Our hearts soon carry 
us away, and we forget the nature and object of our 
worship. We have some instances in history which 
should shame us as Christians, and teach us to culti- 
vate a spirit of attention and solemnity both in the 
closet and in the public worship of God. It is said 
when the troops had broken into the city of Jeru- 
salem, the people fled some one way and some an- 
other, but the priests went on with their sacrifices 
and the holy rites of the temple, as if they heard 
nothing; though they rushed in with their swords, 
yet they preferred their duty to their safety. Plu- 
tarch tells us of a Spartau youth that held the 
censer to Alexander whilst he was sacrificing, and 
though a coal lighted upon his flesh, he suffered 
it to burn there, rather than by crying disturb the 
rites of their heathenish superstition. Let us as 
Christians learn to be humbled for our little atten- 
tion to, and constancy in divine things ; and pray for 
that peace which keepeth the heart and mind through 
Christ Jesus. 



I 3 



174 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR, 

June 13. 

Psalm iv. 4. Commune with your own heart and be still. 

The Rev. and excellent Mr. Scougal died, 1678. 
We shall here introduce a passage from his sermon 
on the advantage of early affliction. After speaking 
of the benefit of solitude, he adds, " Here I would 
not be mistaken, as if I recommended a total and 
constant retirement, or persuaded men to forsake 
the world, and betake themselves into deserts. No 
certainly ; we must not abandon the stations 
wherein God hath placed us, nor render ourselves 
useless to mankind. Solitude hath its temptations, 
and we may be sometimes very bad companions 
to ourselves. It was not without reason that 
a wise person warned another, who professed to 
delight in conversing with himself, Vide ut cum 
homine probo. Have a care that you be keeping 
company with a good man. Abused solitude may 
whet men's passions and irritate their lusts, and 
prompt them to things which company would re- 
strain. And this made one say, that he who is 
much alone must either be a saint or a devil. 
Melancholy, which inclines men most to resent- 
ment, is often too much nourished and fomented 
by it; and there is a peevish and sullen loneliness, 
which some people affect under their troubles, 
whereby they feed on discontented thoughts, and 
find a kind of perverse pleasure in refusing to be 
comforted." 

After all, however, as one observes, " A taste for 
retirement, for calm occupations and simple plea- 
sures, ought diligently to be cultivated by every one 
desirous of solid contentment, or who aspires after 
the dignity of true independence. Sir W. Temple, 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 175 

19 a letter to the king, tells him, " that should the 
court not suit him, he knows the way back to his 
garden/' and for want of this power of abstraction, 
or as Pascal says, " because so few can sit quiet ia 
their own chamber, the world is filled with so much 
competition and uproar." 



June 14. 

Psal. cxlv. 20. The Lord preserveth all them that love him. 

The Rev. Matthew Warren, minister of 
Downhead in Somersetshire, died, 1706, in his 04th 
year. During the reigns of Charles and James, his 
person was often sought for, but he was secured, 
and at one time was very remarkably and provi- 
dentially preserved. His wife had a strange im- 
pression upon her mind, that if he did not remove 
till such a time from the house to which he had 
retired, he would be taken prisoner. Accordingly 
she sent a messenger with a letter, earnestly begging 
him to be at home by such a time, or else he would 
never see her more. He imagining it was her in- 
disposition, and not the fear of his danger that was 
the cause of her urgency, immediately took leave of 
his friends, and went homewards ; but was not far 
from the house, before (looking back from an ascent) 
he saw it surrounded by persons that were sent to 
search there for him. Upon King James's indul- 
gence, he was chosen joint pastor with Mr. Hartford 
of the large congregation of Dissenters in Taunton, 
where he had lived and preached occasionally several 
years before. His motto was, Let your moderation 
be known unto all men. His life was peace and love; 
and in his last hours, when under extreme pain, he 
I 4 



176 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR 

discovered true patience and submission. Being 
then asked how he was, he answered, " I am just 
going into eternity, but I bless God, I am neither 
ashamed to live, nor afraid to die." 



June 15. 



Psalm lxxxix. 5. The heavens shall praise thy wonders, O 
Lord. 

Died in his 57th year (1768) at Newington Butts, 
Mr. James Short, an eminent optician, who by 
his great skill and ingenuity, united to virtuous and 
amiable manners, though born in obscurity and in- 
digence, raised himself into fame, and acquired by 
his profession a fortune of £20,000. His telescopes 
in particular were highly esteemed. For one of 
these which was finished in the year 1762 for the 
King of Spain, he received £1200. This was the 
noblest instrument of the kind that had then been 
constructed, and perhaps it has never yet been sur- 
passed except by the astonishing reflectors of Dr. 
Herschel. Mr. Short was a native of Edinburgh. 
The invention of the telescope is one of the noblest 
and most useful that modern ages have to boast of, 
since by means of this instrument the wonders of the 
heavens are discovered to us, and astronomy is brought 
to a degree of perfection of which former ages could 
have no conception. 

" By telescopes we can see three times the number 
of stars we can by the naked eye; and now tele- 
scopes having received further improvements, 30,000 
fixed stars are discovered ! And why may not stars 
be so remote, that their light may not have reached 
the earth ever since the creation ! The sun's light 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 177 

could not reach the fixed stars, and be reflected 
back with such lustre ; of course they shine by their 
own light — if so, they shine as our sun, conse- 
quently they are suns themselves." Well, then, 
might the Psalmist say, The heavens shall praise thy 
wonders, O Lord. 



June 16. 

Psalm xxxix. II. Thou makest his beauty to consume away 
like a moth. 

The celebrated Duke of Marlborough died, 
1722, aged 73. He was one of the most successful 
generals in the world. His victories are universally 
known. He was remarkably graceful in his persou. 
The Marshall Turenne bestowed on him the name of 
the handsome Englishman. But how vain is beauty, 
and how transient all earthly glory. He degenerated 
into idiocy some time previous to his decease — ■ 
affording like Swift and many others, affecting ex- 
amples of the vanity of all human things. In this 
great personage too we have an instance of the vi- 
cissitude of human affairs ; and that there is no 
dependence on fame and popularity. Though com- 
plimented by both houses of Parliament, and had 
im nense honours conferred uoon him, all were not 
sufficient to preserve him from being disgraced. 
After the change of the ministry in 1710, his interest 
daily declined, and he was removed from all his 
offices. He was buried in Westminster Abbey, how- 
ever, with the greatest solemnity and magnificence 
Let us cease from man whose breath is in his nostrils, 
for wherein is he to be accounted of. 



I 5 



178 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 



June 17. 

Judges v. 7. A mother in Israel. 

The venerable Countess of Huntingdon 
died, 1791. Few characters in any age are to be 
found comparable to this excellent and useful per- 
sonage. " She was/' says the late Mr. Eyre, " truly 
eminent for offering up to God her most fervent 
prayers, and devoting to his service all her property.' 5 
" When/' says she, " I gave up myself to the Lord, 
I likewise devoted to him all my fortune, with this 
reserve, that I would take with a sparing hand what 
might be necessary for my food and raiment, and 
for the support of my children, should they live to 
be reduced. I was led to this," her ladyship con- 
tinued, " from a consideration that there were many 
benevolent persons who had religion, who would feel 
for the temporal miseries of others, and help them, 
but few even among professors, who had a proper 
concern for the awful condition of ignorant and 
perishing souls.'' 

With an income of only 1200 a year, spent in the 
service of God, what wonders was she enabled to 
perform ! She maintained the college at her own 
expense ; she erected chapels in most parts of the 
kingdom; and she supported ministers who were 
sent to preach in various parts of the world. The 
jewels she sold to build the chapel at Brighton 
amounted to £698 15s. 

" I remember," says Mr. Eyre, " calling on her 
ladyship once with a person who came from the 
country. When we came out, he turned his eyes 
towards the house, and after a short pause ex- 
claimed, " What a lesson ! can a person of her 
noble birth, nursed in the lap of grandeur, live in 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 179 

such a house so meanly furnished — and shall I, a 
tradesman, be surrounded with luxury and elegance. 
From this moment I shall hate my house, my furni- 
ture, and myself, for spending so little for God, and 
so much in folly/' She is said by some to have ex- 
pended in the course of her life in public and private 
acts of charity, near one hundred thousand pounds 
sterling. 



June 18. 



Matt. xxiv. 14. There shall arise false prophets. 
Zech. iv. 6. Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, 
saith the Lord. 

Mahomet died, A.D. 631, aged 62. Being 
willing to conceal from his wife his iiahleness to the 
epilepsy, he made her believe that he fell into those 
convulsions merely because he could not support 
the sight of the angel Gabriel, who came from God 
to inform him of several things concerning religion. 
His wife therefore spread it about that he was a 
prophet. His followers increased, and he soon began 
to establish his religion by the force of arms. It is 
certainly one of the most convincing proofs that 
Mahometanism was no other than a human inven- 
tion, as it owed its progress and establishment almost 
entirely to the sword ; and it is one of the strongest 
demonstrations of the divine origin of Christianity, 
that it prevailed against all the force and powers of 
the world, by the mere dint of its own truth, after 
having stood the assaults of all manner of persecu- 
tions, as well as other oppositions for 300 years to- 
gether, and at length made the Roman emperors 
themselves submit to its influence. 
I 6 



180 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

What a contrast do we find in many of the doc- 
trines of the Koran and those of the Bible. What a 
carnal paradise is that of Mahomet, which is repre- 
sented as consisting in robes of silk ; palaces of 
marble ; rivers and shades, groves and couches, 
wines and dainties ; and his 72 virgins of resplendent 
beauty and eternal youth assigned to each of the 
faithful. How superior the heaven of a Christian, 
which consists in spiritual joy, in conformity to God, 
and the everlasting enjoyment of his presence. 



June 19. 



Prov. iii. 17. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all 
her paths are peace. 

The Rev. John Brown of Haddington died, 
1787. The dying sayings of this excellent man 
form a striking exposition of this text. Among the 
rest he says, " No doubt I have met with trials as 
well as others, yet so kind hath God been to me, 
that I think if God were to give me as many years 
as I have already lived in the world, I would not 
desire one single circumstance in my lot changed, 
except that I wish I had less sin." His last words 
were, " My Christ." 

The experience of almost every good man is like- 
wise a comment en this passage of scripture. There 
is a sublime enjoyment, a substantial pleasure in 
religion that is not to be found in any other object. 
It is here, and here only, that a man can say, 1 am 
satisfied, It is enough. Nero, Xerxes, and others, 
proposed rewards for those who could invent new 
pleasures. But it is not so with the Christian. 
He is already receiving from the fountain head, and 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 181 

and even under all the vicissitudes and trials of 
life can often rejoice with a joy unspeakable and full 
of glory. Dryden said he was contented when 
sitting under the statue of Shakespear, and Buffon 
the celebrated naturalist looked upon himself as 
happy while sitting at the feet of Sir Isaac Newton. 
Much more may a Christian rejoice in the presence 
of Him whose favour is life. " Have you any mes- 
sage," said one to good Mr. Thorns, " to send to 

•Mrs. " " Yes/' said he, " if near ninety years 

experience is of any value, tell her, I have found the 
ways of God ways of pleasantness, and his paths 
paths of peace." Even under the heaviest afflictions, 
the joy .of, a* Christian is not lost. Hence said the 
late Mr. Thorowgood in his illness, " I am as happy 
as a man can be." 



June 20. 

Matt. viii. 26. And when he was entered into a ship, his 
disciples followed him, &c. And he saith unto them, 
Why are ye so fearful, O ye of little faith ? 

One hundred and twenty-three persons perished 
in the black hole at Calcutta, 1756. To this event 
Mr. Jay thus alludes in his discourse on the above 
text : " Our Lord here reproves his disciples. But 
observe, I beseech you, for what it is that he cen- 
sures them. It is not for breaking in upon his 
repose. Some of you may remember the confinement 
of one hundred and forty-six Englishmen in what is 
called the black hole at Calcutta. It would harrow 
up the feelings of your souls, were I to relate the 
sufferings of these brave men, driven into a dungeon 
which was a cube of eighteen feet, walled up east- 
ward and southward, the only quarters from which 



182 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

refreshing air could come, and open westward by 
two small windows barred with iron — all this under 
a melting sky — and many of the men wounded. 
But what I refer to is this. The cries of these 
sufferers at last were such as to prevail on one of the 
enemy's soldiers to go and implore relief of the 
Suba, or chief. But he soon returned, saying that 
the Suba was asleep, and that it was upon pain of 
death any one dared to wake him before the time. 
But it is not so with thee, O blessed Jesus, thou 
Saviour of the world ! Thou despisest not thy 
prisoners. We cannot by our continual coming 
weary thee. Thou hast always an ear to which 
misery is welcome. The groans of a broken heart 
are as delightful to thee as the songs of angels. — 
No : he does not reprove them for their prayer* but 
their fear. They were in a needless panic. They 
talked of perishing, not considering who was with 
them : and that they could not sink without his 
sinking too. His safety proved their security. 
Therefore he saith unto them, " Why are ye fearful, 
O ye of little faith 1" And hereby he shews us — 
that our alarms originate in the want of faith — that 
faith may indeed be real where it is little — but 
that being little it renders us liable to apprehensions 
and dismay — and that if a small degree of faith will 
be sufficient for fine weather sailing, a greater is 
necessary in a storm — a faith assured of our union 
with him ; clear in its views of his power and love ; 
and firm in its dependence upon his promise." 






PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 183 

June 21. 

1 Thess. v. IT, Pray without ceasing. 

The first stone of St. Paul's cathedral was laid, 
1675. This superb structure was finished in 1711, 
under one architect, Sir Christopher Wren, and 
under one prelate, Henry Compton, Bishop of 
London. That it was not built in vain, the follow- 
ing will testify. A certain sailor, after a long ab- 
sence from his native country, returned home flushed 
with money. As he had never been in London 
before, he resolved to treat himself with the sight of 
whatever was celebrated as great, gay, or curious. 
Among other places he paid a visit to St. Paul's. 
This happened at the time of service. When care- 
lessly passing, he chanced to hear the words, 
" Pray without ceasing," uttered by the officiating 
minister ; but he passed on without any impression 
from the words. Having gratified his curiosity, he 
returned to his mariue pursuits; and continued at 
sea seven years without the occurrence of any thing 
remarkable in his history. 

One fine evening, when the air was soft, the 
breeze gentle, the heavens serene, and the ocean 
smiled, he walked the deck with his feelings soothed 
by the pleasing aspect of nature, when all on a 
sudden darted into his mind the words, " Pray 
without ceasing." "Pray without ceasing! — what 
words can these be !" exclaimed he. " I think I 
have heard them before ; where could it be V After 
a pause : " Oh ! it was at St. Paul's in London ; 
the minister read them from the Bible. What, and 
do the Scriptures say, Pray without ceasing 1 O 
what a wretch must I be, to have lived so long 
without praying at all i" — God, who at first depo- 



184 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

sited this scripture in his ear, now caused it to 
spring up in a way, at a time, and with a power 
peculiarly his own. The poor fellow now found the 
lightning of conviction flash in his conscience, — the 
thunders of the law shaking his heart, — and the 
great deep of destruction threatening to swallow him 
up. Now he begins, for the first time, to pray; but 
praying was not all ; " O,'' said he, " that I had a 
Bible, or some good book !" He rummages his 
chest ; when, lo ! at one corner he espies a Bible, 
which his anxious mother had, twenty years before, 
put in the chest ; but which, till now had never been 
opened. He snatches it up, puts it to his breast, 
then reads, weeps, prays, believes, and becomes a 
new man. — O thou blessed Bible !" 



June 22. 

Gen. xxiv. 63. And Isaac went out to meditate in the fields 
at eventide. 

The Rev. Matthew Henry died, 1714, aged 
52. His Commentary on the Bible will be a stand- 
ing monument of his labour, piety, and zeal. He 
improved his time; and knew what it was by ex- 
perience to enjoy communion with God. Oi retire- 
ment and meditation he thus speaks : "It will do us 
good to be often left alone, and silling alone ; and 
if we have the art of improving solitude, we shall 
find we are never less alone than when alone. Me- 
ditation and prayer ought to be both our business 
and our delight win n we are alone: while we have 
a God, a Christ, and a heaven, to acquaint ourselves 
withy and to secure an interest in, we need not want 
matter either for meditation or prayer ; which, if 
they go together, will mutually befriend each other. 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 185 

Our walks in the field are then truly pleasant, when 
in them we apply ourselves to meditation and prayer. 
We there have a free and open prospect of the 
heavens above us, and the earth around us, and the 
hosts and riches of both; by the view of which we 
should be led to the contemplation of the Maker 
and Owner of all." As to the time for meditation, 
the same hour w$y be seasonable to one and un- 
seasonable to another. " I have always found (says 
Mr. Baxter) that the fittest time for myself is the 
evening, from sunsetting to twilight." 

What an orator said in another case, when he was 
asked what was most eminent in rhetoric and ora- 
tory, gave this answer, Pronunciation, pronunciation, 
pronunciation ; so, says Dr. Bates, if I should be 
asked what I think are the best means and way to 
advance the faculties, to make the ordinances fruitful, 
to increase grace, to enlarge our comfort, and pro- 
duce holiness, I should answer, Meditation, medita- 
tion, meditation. 



June 23. 

Psalm lxxiv. 20. Have respect unto the covenant, for the 
dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of 
cruelty. 

This day, 1813, a motion was carried in the House 
of Commons for missionaries to go to India by a 
majority of 53. There being for the Resolution 89, 
against it 36. And on July 20, the Bill was read a 
third time and passed the House of Lords, and the 
next day received the royal assent. Much has been 
said as to the danger of sending missionaries, and 
the inutility of attempting to instruct the heathen. 
In regard to the first, if they are christian mission- 



186 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

aries, there can be no fear ; and as to the second, it 
does not deserve an answer. The account given us 
by Dr. Buchanan of the idol of Juggernaut is shock- 
ing ; and recent intelligence informs us, that the 
worship of the idol has lately been more numerously 
attended than usual. " You would be astonished," 
say the Baptist Missionaries, " to see the vast number 
of pilgrims passing the river at Cattalk. As far as 
the eye could reach, we could not see the end of the 
ranks; it put us in mind of an army going to battle. 
You can easily conceive what a multitude of men, 
women, and children, must have been assembled at 
the temple ; for 150, or thereabouts, are said to have 
been killed in the crowd. They trod one upon 
another as approaching the temple gate. Ten Sepoys 
(or native soldiers) per company, from all the bat- 
talions, from Barrack pore to this station, had per- 
mission to visit the temple. A famine was produced 
in the country ; and great numbers of the pilgrims 
died of hunger and thirst. We talked to some of 
them, but it was of no use ; they said, Whether we 
survive or not, we will see the Temple of Jaggernaut 
before our death. Numbers killed themselves by 
falling under the wheels of the idol's car. They laid 
themselves flat on their backs, for the very purpose 
of being crushed to death by it." 

Dr. Carey, also, whose testimony none who know 
his character will discredit, calculates that the num- 
ber of pilgrims who visit Jaggernaut in Orissa (to 
which 12 or 13 pilgrimages are made in the year) 
must amount annually to 1,200,000; of whom, if 
only one in ten died (and it is thought a much 
greater proportion do die) the mortality would be 
120,000 persons in a year. Besides which, he says, 
I calculate that 10,000 women annu?lly burn with 
the bodies of their deceased husbands. Thus 
130,000 perish by these cruel superstitions every 
year. 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 187 

Now this is the miserable religion for which 
many nominal Christians are not ashamed to plead ; 
these are the bloody and inhuman rites which some 
would support as sacred things. But we rejoice that 
the facts just related have been fairly laid before the 
British Senate, and that the voice of truth and re- 
ligion has prevailed. 

In addition to what is above stated, a report has 
recently arrived in this country, printed at Seram- 
pore, that in the months of May and June, 1812, 
about 70 females have immolated themselves on the 
funeral pile in Bengal. One Brahman had married 
twenty-five women, thirteen of whom died during his 
life time ; the remaining twelve perished with him 
on the funeral pile, leaving thirty children to deplore 
the fatal effects of this horrid system. Some years 
ago, a Kooleena brahman of considerable property 
died at Sookachura, three miles east of Serampore. 
He had married more than forty women, all of whom 
died before him excepting eighteen ; on this occa- 
sion, a fire extending ten or twelve yards in length 
was prepared, into which the remaining eighteen threw 
themselves, leaving more than forty children, many 
of whom are still living. 



June 24. 

Matt. xi. 30. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. 

The Rev. Philip Henry died, 1696, aged 64. 
Such was his spirituality that he was called heavenly 
Henry. The world was nothing to him. " I adore," 
said he, " the wisdom of God, that he hath not seen 
meet to trust me with riches." He was once preach- 
ing on the above text, and after insisting upon many 
things to prove the yoke of Christ easy, at last 



188 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

appealed to the experience of all that had drawn in 
that yoke. " Call now, if there be any that will 
answer you, and to which of the saints will you 
turn ? Turn to which you will, and they will ail 
agree that they have found wisdom's ways ways of 
pleasantness, and Christ's commandments not griev- 
ous ; and, saith he, I will here witness for one, who 
through grace have in some poor measure been 
drawing in the yoke now above thirty years, and I 
have found it an easy yoke, and like my choice too 
well to change" 



June 25. 



Eccles. vii. 16. Why shouldest thou destroy thyself? 

Isa. i. 18. Come now and let us reason together, saith the 
Lord ; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as 
white as snow ; though they be red like crimson, they shall 
be as wool. 

On this day, 1750, a man fell from the top of 
the Monument, and was terribly shattered. July 7, 
1788, Thomas Craddock, a baker, precipitated him- 
self from its summit ; as did also Mr. Levi, a gentle- 
man of respectability, on the 18th of January, 3810. 
The height of the Monument is 202 feet, 'the fall 
about 175 feet. It cost £13,000 sterling. 

The number of suicides is very affecting. The 
causes no doubt are various. That the god of this 
world is active in such awful scenes, cannot be 
doubted. " The two grand engines of Satan's suc- 
cess," observes one, " are presumption and despair ; 
and of the two, the latter is more offensive to God, 
and more ruinous to the souls of men than the 
former. It is a sin against the highest glory of the 
Pivine Character ; against every attribute of Deity, 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 189 

as concentered in the work of redeeming love." 
Some good people, however, have been for a season 
under the influence of despondency, and have been 
ready to conclude that they must finally perish. 
Let it be observed, however, that this is not the 
natural tendency of our religion. On the contrary, 
the declarations of mercy which the Bible affords, 
have been the very meaus of rescuing some from a 
state of despair. A well educated and a sincerely 
pious female, under the influence of religious melan- 
choly, not unaided by mental distraction, made 
several direct attempts at self-destruction, but being 
providentially directed to go to a place of worship 
at Tooting, the minister (the late venerable Mr. 
Bowden) took for his text the words above-mentioned, 
" Come now, &c." This made such an impression 
on her mind, that she was diverted from her pur- 
pose, and at length became tranquillized in her 
spirit. From this circumstance we may learn the 
necessity of speaking a word in season to them that 
are weary ; especially when we consider how great a 
portion of God's word affords us ground for this 
useful practice. 



June 26. 

Luke ix. 49, 50. And John answered and said, Master, we 
saw one casting out devils in thy name, and we forbade 
him, because he followeth not with us. And Jesus said 
unto him, Forbid him not, for he that is not against us 
is for us. 

The Rev. John Flavel died, 1691, aged 64. 
He was ejected from his living at Dartmouth by 
the Act of Uniformity. He was a useful preacher, 
and his works are still read with pleasure and advan- 
tage. He was of a different spirit from many, as 



190 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

the following will testify. " Seeing a tree grow 
somewhat irregular m a very neat orchard (says 
Mr. Flavel) I told the owner it was a pity that tree 
should stand there, and that if it were mine, I 
would root it up, and thereby reduce the orchard to 
an exact uniformity. He replied, that he rather 
regarded the fruit than the form, and that this light 
inconveniency was abundantly preponderated by a 
more considerable advantage. " This tree (said he) 
which you would root up, hath yielded me more 
fruit than many of those trees which have nothing 
else to recommend them but their regular situation ." 
I could not (adds Mr. Flavel) but yield to the reason 
of this answer, and could wish it had been spoken so 
loud that all our conformity men had heard it, who 
would not stick to root up many hundreds of the 
best bearers in the Lord's orchard, because they 
stand not in exact order with other more conform- 
able but less beneficial trees, who destroy the fruit to 
preserve the form." 

Such, alas, is the prejudice of our minds, that we 
are too prone to condemn those who do not view 
things exactly as we do. We lay down plans and 
rules for ourselves, and then blame others if they do 
not follow them. Too often also are we mistaken in 
our opinions of others, and imagine that they are 
only cumberers of the ground, when probably they 
bring forth the fruits of righteousness in greater 
abundance than ourselves. 



June 27. 

Jer. ii. 17. Hast thou not procured this unto thyself? 

The Roman Emperor, Julian the apostate ex- 
pired, A. D. 363. Julian was nephew to Constan- 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR- 191 

tine the Great. When Constantine died, he left his 
empire to his three sons ; and when they were dead, 
Julian reigned in their stead He had been a pro- 
fessed Christian, but he fell from Christianity, and 
turned a Pagan; and therefore is called the Apostate. 
When he came to the throne, he used his utmost 
endeavours to overthrow the christian church, and 
set up paganism again in the empire. He put down 
the christian magistrates, and placed heathens in 
their room ; he built the heathen temples, and be- 
came a most notorious persecutor of the Christians, 
and as is thought against his own light : he used to 
call Christ, by way of reproach, the Galilean. He 
was killed with a lance in his wars with the Persians. 
When he saw that he was mortally wounded, he took 
a handful of his blood, and threw it up towards 
heaven, crying out, O Galilean, thou hast conquered. 
He is thought by divines to have committed the un- 
pardonable sin. 

On this day, 1777, Dr. Dodd was executed at 
Tyburn for the crime of forgery. He was a very 
popular and celebrated preacher, and most zealous 
promoter of charitable institutions. He published 
a large Commentary on the Bible in three volumes 
folio, besides some poems, and several sermons, 
and tracts of piety. But pride, and a habit of 
sumptuous living, counterbalanced his useful and 
laudable qualities, and led him to the commission 
of that act which brought him to an ignominious 
end on a public scaffold. He was born at Bourn 
in Lincolnshire (of which place his father was vicar) 
in 1729. 

In the following instance we see how pride was 
punished. M enecratgs, the physician of, Syra- 
cuse took upon himself the title of Jupiter. When 
he wrote to Philip, king of Macedon, he used these 



102 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

words, Menecrates Jupiter to King Philip, greeting, 
The Macedonian monarch answered, Philip to Mene- 
crates, greeting, and better sense. Philip also in- 
vited him to one of his feasts, hut when the meats 
were served up, a table was put separate for the 
physician, on which he was served only with per- 
fumes aad frankincense like the father of the gods. 
This entertainment displeased Menecrates, he re- 
membered that he was only a man, and hurried 
away from the company. Providence often reminds 
such of their mortality by the most humbling cir- 
cumstances, so that they are not only the safest but 
the happiest who walk humbly with their God. 



June 28. 

2 Cor. xi.29. Who is weak and I am not weak, who is 
offended and I burn not. 

The Rev. John Shower died, 1715. He was 
born in the city of Exeter, and baptized on the 18th 
of May, 1657. He was minister at Curriers' Hall, 
then at Jewin Street, and finally at the Old Jewry. 
H^s natural temper was peculiarly tender and affec- 
tionate, which was certainly not diminished by grace. 
He could say, both as a minister and a friend, as 
the apostle did in the above passage. This tender- 
ness of spirit shewed itself, not only in his private 
discourse with his friends, but in his public adminis- 
trations. The lively affections of his soul would 
often discover themselves in many tears, both while 
he was pleading with God in prayer, and with men 
in preaching : and, as flame increases flame, he had 
a natural, not an artificial way of moving the hearts 
of the people. In a word, he was both a burning 
and a shining light below ; and doubtless is now 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 193 

removed to shine as the stars in the firmament for 
ever and ever. He was buried at Highgate. He 
published many pieces, among which his Reflections 
on Time and Eternity is well worthy of perusal, and 
a very suitable book to distribute among the ignorant 
and careless. 



June 29, 

I Tim. iii.2. A bishop then must be blameless. 

Dr. Pearce, Bishop of Rochester died, 1774. 
It is said he was never puffed up with the general 
applauses of the world, but of an humble deport- 
ment, resembling the meek and lowly Jesus as far as 
the weakness of human nature can resemble a cha- 
racter without sin. His countenance was always 
placid, and displayed the benevolence of his heart* 
if his extensive charity had not proved it to demon- 
stration. His thirst of knowledge prompted him to 
a very studious life, and that rendered both his com- 
plexion and constitution delicate: yet it held out, 
by the blessing of Providence, beyond his 85th 
year. 



June 30. 

Psalm lxxi. 4. Deliver me out of the hands of the cruel man. 

This day, 1689, Rosene, marshal general of 
King James's forces in Ireland, was guilty of an 
act of barbarity scarcely to be paralleled in history. 
To induce the brave defenders of Londonderry to 
give up that place, he collected together 4000, 
some say 7000, of the neighbouring Protestants of 
K 



194 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

all ages and conditions, stript them entirely naked* 
deprived them of food, and in that forlorn condition 
caused the miserable objects to be driven under the 
walls of the city, where a considerable number of 
them perished through fatigue, grief, or the want of 
sustenance. Alas, what inhuman monsters are to 
be found among those who call themselves rational 
beings ; and how great the evil of sin, that it should 
destroy even the common feelings of humanity, and 
render men more like infernals than any thing else ! 



July 1. 

] Tim. i. 15. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, 

OF WHOM I AM CHIEF. 

Mr. John Bradford martyred, 1555. Preach- 
ing, reading, and praying, formed the chief business 
of his whole life. He did not eat more than one meal 
a-day, and that a sparing one, and his continual 
study was upon his knees. His deep humiHty is 
well known. He attributed all to grace, and looked 
upon himself as nothing but what God made him. 
In the midst of his dinner he was wont to meditate 
with his hat over his eyes, from whence he would 
often shed abundance of tears. He was very gentle 
both to man and child, and in so good credit with 
his keeper, that he had liberty to go abroad any 
evening without any guard, on his promise that he 
would return the same night ; which he always 
punctually did, and rather before than after the 
hour appointed. He was takeii into Smithfield with 
a strong guard of armed men. When he came to 
the place where he was to suffer, he fell on his face 
and prayed. After which he took a faggot and 
kissed it, and the stake likewise. Then having put 
off his cloth, he stood by the stake, and lifting up his 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 195 

eyes and hands towards heaven, said, " O England, 
England, repent of thy sins, repent of thy sins ; 
beware of idolatry ; beware of antichrist ; take heed 
they do not deceive thee]" Then he turned his 
face to John Leaf, a young man about twenty years 
old, who suffered with him, and said, " Be of good 
comfort, brother, for we shall sup with the Lord 
this night." He then embraced the reeds, and 
said, " Strait is the gate and narrow is the way 
that leadeth to life eternal, and few there be that 
find it." After which he was fastened to the stake 
and burnt." 

On this day (1813) also died the Rev. John 
Venn, A. M. for twenty years rector of the parish 
of Clapham. It would be difficult to describe the 
strong sensation caused by this event in the circle in 
which he moved. His whole parish appeared to feel 
that in him they had lost a friend and a father ; and 
on no occasion has been witnessed in a public 
assembly a more deep and universal expression of 
sorrow, than in the congregation which had, been 
accustomed to hang on his lips. Much could be* 
said on the character and conduct, the life, the 
labours, and the death of this minister of Christ, had: 
he not laid an injunction to abstain from employing, 
with respect to himself, the language of panegyric. 
ft I feel," he said, " that I am an unworthy sinner, 
whose only ground of hope before God is in the 
merits and mercies of my blessed Saviour. Is it for 
such a one as I am, laden with infirmity, and con- 
scious of innumerable sins and failures, to be held 
up to the view of others as an object of admiration ? 
I cannot bear to think of it. That God has been 
pleased to support me in the near view of death, 
and to cheer me with bright prospects beyond it ; 
that in the midst of pain, and sickness, and decay, 
I can taste his consolations and rejoice in his love ; 
K 2 



196 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

this is indeed the subject of unspeakable gratitude 
and praise. But all this is the gift of his grace 
and bounty to one who has deserved nothing at his 
hands." 



July 2. 

Psalm cxix. 117. Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe. 

Archbishop Cranmek born, 1498. From 
the day of /his promotion to the see of Canterbury, 
he had continually employed his thoughts on getting 
the scriptures translated into English. He had 
often solicited his Majesty about it, and at length 
obtained a grant that they might be translated and 
printed. For want of good paper in England, the 
copy was sent to Paris ; and by Bonner's means a 
licence was procured for printing it there. As soon 
as some of the copies came to the archbishop's 
hands, he sent one to Lord Cromwell, desiring him 
to present it in his name to the king, importuning 
him to intercede with his majesty, that by his 
authority all his subjects might have the liberty of 
using it without constraint ; which Lord Cromwell 
accordingly did, and the king readily assented. 
Injunctions were forthwith published, requiring an 
English Bible of the largest size to be procured for 
the use of every parish church, at the expense of the 
minister and the church wardens ; and prohibited 
all discouraging the people from reading or hearing 
the scriptures. The book was received with inex- 
pressible joy ; every one that was able purchased the 
same; and the poor greedily flocked to hear it read. 
Some persons in years learned to read on purpose 
that they might peruse it; and even little children 
crouded with eagerness to hear it. 






PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 197 

The Archbishop was much hated by the papists, 
and at last they bethought themselves of a stratagem 
which proved fatal to him ; they removed him from 
prison to the lodgings of the Dean of Christchurch ; 
they treated him with the greatest civility and re- 
spect, and made him great promises of the Queen's 
favour, and the restitution of his former dignities, 
with many other honours and preferments accumu- 
lated, if he would recant. And now, behold a most 
astonishing instance of human frailty. The man, 
who had with such undaunted resolution, such un- 
shaken constancy, and so truly primitive a spirit of 
martyrdom, faced the terrors of death, and defied 
the most exquisite tortures, sinks under his last 
temptation, falls a prey to flattery and hypocrisy, 
and consents to recant. Notwithstanding all this, 
however, they brought him to the stake ; but before 
he suffered, he saw his error, and died bearing his 
testimony to the truth. Some pressing him to agree 
to his former recantation, he answered, shewing his 
hand, " This is the hand that wrote, and therefore it 
shall first suffer punishment." Fire being applied to 
him, he stretched out his right hand in the flame, 
and held it there unmoved (except that once he 
wiped his face with it) till it was consumed ; crying 
with a loud voice, " This hand hath offended ;f and 
often repeating, " This unworthy right hand !" At 
last the fire getting up, he soon expired, never stirring 
or crying out all the while, only keeping his eyes 
fixed to heaven, and repeating more than once, 
" Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." He died in the 
67th year of his age. 



& a 



198 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR, 



July 3. 

2 Cor. v. 4. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan 5 
being burdened ; not for that we would be unclothed, but 
clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of 
life. 

Mr. George Hughes, B. D. of Plymouth, 
died, 1665, aged 64. When a young minister who 
was much with him in his retirement, was speaking 
to a person of his infirm state, Mr. Hughes replied, 
u Nature would not willingly go where it must and 
shall go, yet I will wait all the days of my appointed 
time for my change, O when will it once come 
that I shall put off this earthly tabernacle, and be 
clothed with my house from heaven. I desire to 
be dissolved, and to be at home with Christ. I thank 
my God I am not ashamed to live nor afraid to die.'' 
Though persecuted for his nonconformity, he con- 
tinued preaching privately to the last, which he did 
twice the Lord's day before he died, but concluded 
with these memorable words, " And now all my 
work is done." The evening before he died, he 
ordered his watch to lie by him, and desired a 
relation to observe when it was two o'clock, for, 
says he, " that is my hour." And accordingly just 
then he expired. 



July 4. 

Luke xxiii. 34. Father forgive them, for they know not what 
they do. 

Mr. John Frith martyred, 1533. Upon the 
score of his writings and verbal answers to the 
bishops, he was deemed incorrigible, and condemned 






PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 199 

to be burnt ; and accordingly was carried to Smith- 
field, with a young man named Andrew Hewet, a 
martyr in the same glorious cause. When Mr, 
Frith was tied to the stake, he shewed amazing con- 
stancy and courage; and, embracing the faggots and 
fire when put around him, evinced how cheerfully 
he suffered death for the sake of Christ and his 
blessed truth. One Dr. Cook, a priest, standing by, 
loudly admonished the people not to pray for them 
any more than if they were dogs. At which Mr. 
Frith, smiling, prayed the Lord to forgive him. 
The wind blew away the flames to his fellow martyr 
Hewet, which occasioned to Frith a very lingering 
and painful death, but his mind seemed so esta- 
blished, and his patience to have so much of its 
perfect work, that it was observed he seemed more to 
rejoice for his fellow sufferer than to be careful about 
himself; and at last cheerfully committed his soul 
into the hands of God. Thus we find how God 
supports his suffering people to the last. 



July 5. 

Luke ix. 54. Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come 
down from heaven and consume them ? 

Jerusalem taken by the crusaders after a siege of 
five weeks, 1100. Impelled by a mixture of military 
and religious rage, they put the numerous garrison 
and inhabitants to the sword without distinction. 
Neither arms defended the valiant nor submission 
the timorous ; no age nor sex was spared ; infants on 
the breast were pierced by the same blow with their 
mothers who implored for mercy ; even a multitude, 
to the number of 10,000 persons, who had surren- 
dered themselves prisoners, and were promised quar- 
K 4 



200 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 



ter, were butchered in cold blood, by those feroeious 
ruffians, who yet had the impious effrontery to style 
themselves < hristians. 

What an affecting instance of the bigotry, super- 
stition, and the cruelty of the dark ages. Blessed 
be God that the true light now shines. See TheoL 
Diet, article Croisade. 






July 6. 

Rev. xii. 11. And they loved not their lives unto the death. 

The celebrated Mr. John Huss martyred at 
Constance in Germany, 1415. When he heard the 
sentence of degradation, he kneeled down with his 
eyes lifted towards heaven, and said, with all the 
spirit of primitive martyrdom, tf May thy infinite 
mercy, O my God, pardon this injustice of my 
enemies. Thou knowest the injustice of this accu- 
sation ; how deformed with crimes I have been re- 
presented ; how I have been oppressed by worthless 
witnesses, and an unjust condemnation; yet, O my 
God, let that mercy of thine which no tongue can 
express, prevail with thee not to avenge my wrongs." 
When he came to the place of execution, he fell on 
his knees, sang portions of psalms, looked steadfastly 
towards heaven, and repeated these words, " Into 
thy hands, O Lord, do I commit my spirit ; thou 
hast redeemed me, O most good and faithful God. 
Lord Jesus Christ, assist and help me, that with a 
firm and patient mind, by thy most powerful grace, 
I may undergo this most cruel and ignominious 
death, to which I am condemned for preaching the 
truth of thy most holy gospel." When the chain 
was put about him at the stake, he said with a 
smiling countenance, " My Lord Jesus Christ was 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 201 

bound with a harder chain than this for ray sake"; 
and why should I be ashamed of this old rusty one?' 
When the faggots were piled up to his very neck, 
the Duke of Bavaria was officious enough to desire 
him to abjure. " No," said Huss, " I never preached 
any doctrine of an evil tendency, and what I taught 
with my lips, 1 now seal with my blood." He said 
to the executioner, " Are you going to burn a 
goose? In one century you will have a swan you 
can neither roast nor boil/' If he was a prophet, he 
must have meant Luther, who had a swan for his 
arms. The flames were then applied to the faggots, 
when the martyr sang a hymn with so loud and 
cheerful a voice, that he was heard through the 
cracklings of the combustibles, and the noise of the 
multitude. At last his voice was cut short, after he 
had uttered, " Jesus Christ, thou son of God, have 
mercy upon me ;" and he was consumed in a most 
miserable manner. The Duke of Bavaria ordered 
the executioner to throw the martyr's clothes into 
the flames; after which, his ashes were carefully 
collected and cast into the Rhine. 



July 7. 

Psal3I civ. 26. There go the skips. 

The missionary ship DurT arrived from Otaheite, 
after landing the missionaries on that island, 1798. 
Often have the mighty waters borne ships of dis- 
covery, of merchandise, of war, but certainly a 
more pleasing object cannot be contemplated than 
a vessel becoming an ark, employed for the purpose 
of carrying the tidings of mercy to distant lands. 
For wise ends indeed, Providence afterwards per- 
mitted this vessel to be captured by the enemy : yet, 
K 5 



202 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

as Dr. Buchanan has observed, such an object as 
the missionary ship Duff has not been sufficiently 
appreciated by the religious world. On the return 
of this vessel, two sermons were preached, by Mr. 
Griffin and Dr. Haweis. Dr. Haweis observes, 
4< Whoever heard, in the most prosperous voyage of 
the ablest navigators, 183 degrees of longitude 
passed in the short space of fifty-one days 1 moving 
often at the rate of two hundred and twenty or 
thirty miles a-day, and so steadily before the wind 
as seldom or ever to interrupt the daily exercises of 
prayer and praise, of study or repose. Shall we not 
with thankfulness admire, also, the safety of the 
conveyance. Not a mast sprung, not a yard lost, 
not a sail split, not an anchor left behind. To 
traverse more than twice the circumference of the 
globe, especially amidst the lurking shoals, the hid- 
den rocks, and low islands of the Southern Ocean, 
must, it is well known, be full of danger. They felt 
it, and sometimes were at their wits end, going up to 
heaven, and sinking down into the deep, shook by 
the pealing thunder embayed without a passage, and 
once suspended on the dreadful reef. I read and 
trembled. But he that dwelleth under the defence 
of the Most High, shall be safe under the shadow 
of the Almighty. I was ashamed, humbled, com- 
forted, exalted, when in the midst of the most awful 
scenes, I heard one of my brethren say, We ^took 
the wings of faith, and fled in prayer to the God of 
mercies; and when we had sung a hymn, presently 
the storm abated, and we lay down comfortable and 
fell asleep. Ah, so he giveth his beloved sleep. 

Few vessels have ever been so long without touch- 
ing for refreshment, or performed so vast a run as 
13,800 miles without the sight of land ; but excep 
the common well known effects of the sea, or the 
indisposition of an individual, not a scorbutic com- 
plaint appeared, no spreading fever, no infectious 
disorder, no dangerous accident, or broken bone," 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 203 



July 8. 

2 Tim. iv. 7. I have fought a good fight ; I have finished my 
course; I have kept the faith." 

The battle of Leuctra was fought, B. C. 374. 
Epaminondas gained the victory. Four thousand 
Spartans were killed, and only three hundred The- 
bans. Eight years after Epaminondas fell in the 
battle of Mantinea. In the agonies of dissolution 
he asks, " Is my shield safe 1 are the Thebans 
victorious V Viewing his shield which was brought 
to him, and being informed that the Spartans were 
defeated, a gleam of joy prevailed for a moment 
over the languor of death. " Mine," said he, is a 
glorious departure, I die in the arms of victory; tell 
me not that I am childless, for Leuctra and Mantinea 
(meaning his victories there) are immortal children." 
Thus the apostle could triumph ; his shield was safe; 
his course finished with honour, leaving behind mul- 
titudes of spiritual children, as trophies of victory, 
who shall be his joy and crown of rejoicing in the 
day of the Lord Jesus, 



July 9. 

Job xii. 18, 19. He looseth the bonds of kings, and girdeth 
their loins with a girdle. He leadeth princes away spoiled, 
and overthroweth the mighty. 

The Empress of Russia, Catharine II. effected 
a revolution, by entering Petersburgh with an armed 
force, 1762. Peter, her husband, renounced the 
crown the next day, and the unhappy monarch died 
in prison just a week after his resignation ; not with- 
out strong suspicion of his being murdered. Justly 
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204 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR, 



has it been said, that the interval is short between a 
kingly prison and the grave. From this and many 
other instances, we learn that no dignity of situation 
can be security against adversity. Adonibezek was 
taken prisoner, and had his thumbs and his great 
toes cut off. The sons of Zedekiah were slain, and 
his own eyes put out. Nebuchadnezzar was driven 
into the field to eat grass like an ox. See my Serious 
Enquiries, article Power. 



. 



July 10. 

Phil. i. 12. But I would ye should understand, brethren, 
that the things which happened unto me, have fallen out 
rather unto the furtherance of the gospel. 

Edwin Sandys, Archbishop of York, died, 
1588, aged 68. Having refused to proclaim Queen 
Mary, he was sent to the Tower ; but here he could 
say as the apostle did in the above language, for in 
this place he was the instrument of converting his 
keeper, a bitter papist, and an enemy to the truth, 
chiefly by his mild and gentle deportment, for he 
well knew that religion was not to be propagated by 
violence and fury. It would be well if all who 
attempt to do good imitated this conduct. Our 
light is to shine before others, but our zeal is not to 
burn them. We can never do better than when we 
exhibit the excellency of the gospel to our enemies 
in our holy tempers and lives. Another lesson we 
may learn from the above-mentioned circumstance ; 
that is, not to despair under events that seem ap- 
parently to militate against us. He can render us 
useful in bonds as well as when we enjoy our liberty. 
The prisou may sometimes be a scene of usefulness 
as well as the pulpit Wherever the providence of 
God leads us, there he can both support and render 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 205 

us useful. Bishop Sandys was 38 weeks in prison, 
After his liberation he went abroad ; but at the ac- 
cession of Queen Elizabeth he returned and rose to 
great eminence in the church. 



July 11. 

Ephes. iv. 31. Let all bhternesss, and wrath, and anger, and 
malice, be put away from you. 

General Hamilton of New York was killed 
in a duel with Mr. Burr, Vice President of the 
United States. How much is it to be lamented that 
this barbarous practice should have any countenance. 
How opposite is it to the genius of the christian 
religion, and what a violation of the divine command ! 
General Hamilton, before he expired, acknowledged 
the impropriety of it. Dr. Mason, who visited him 
soon after he received the wound, had much conver- 
sation with him. " I observed/' says the Doctor^ 
" that I had nothing to address to him in his afflic- 
tion but that same gospel of the grace of God which, 
it is my office to preach to the most obscure and 
illiterate ; that in the sight of God all men are on a 
level, as all have sinned and come short of his glory ; 
and that they must apply to him for pardon and life, 
as sinners whose only refuge is in his grace, reigning 
by righteousness through our Lord Jesus Christ." 
" I perceive it to be so," said he ; "I am a sinner ; 
I look to his mercy." I then adverted to the infinite 
merit of the Redeemer, as the propitiation for sin, 
the sole ground of our acceptance with God, the sole 
channel of his favour to us ; and cited the following 
passages of scripture : " There is no other name 
given under heaven. He is able to save to the 
uttermost. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth 
from all sin." This last passage introduced the 



206 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

affair of the duel; on which I reminded the General, 
that he was not to be instructed a3 to its moral 
aspect, that the precious blood of Christ was as 
effectual and as necessary to wash away the trans- 
gressions which had involved him in suffering, as 
any other transgression ; and that he must there, 
and there alone, seek peace for his conscience, and a 
hope that should not make him ashamed. He as- 
sented with strong emotion to these representations ; 
and declared his abhorrence of the whole transaction. 
" It was always/' added he, " against my principles. 
I used every expedient to avoid the interview, but I 
have found for some time past, that my life must be 
exposed to that man. I went to the field determined 
not to take his life/' He repeated his disavowal of 
ail intention to hurt Mr. Burr ; the anguish of his 
mind in recollecting what had passed ; and the 
humble hope of forgiveness from his God. 

ct Being about to part with him, I told him I had 
one request to make. He asked what it was 1 I 
answered, That whatever may be the issue of your 
affliction, you would give your testimony against the 
practice of duelling. " I will," said he, " I have 
done it. If that (evidently anticipating the event) 
if that be the issue, you will find it in writing. If it 
please God that I recover, I shall do it in a manner 
that will effectually put me out of its reach in future." 
He pressed my hand affectionately, and desired to 
see me again at a proper interval. As I was retiring, 
he lifted up his hands, in the attitude of prayer, and 

said freely, " God be merciful to n His voice 

sunk so that I heard not the rest distinctly; but 
understood him to quote the words of the publican 
in the gospel, and to end the sentence with — 
me a sinner." 

The following is part of an oration by Dr. Mason 
at his grave. 

" Fathers, friends, countrymen ! the grave of 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 207 

Hamilton speaks. It charges me to remind you 
that he fell a victim, not to disease or accident ; not 
to the fortune of glorious warfare ; but, how shall I 
utter it ? to a custom which has no origin but super- 
stition, no aliment but depravity, no reason but in 
madness ! Alas ! that he should thus expose his 
precious life ! This was his error. A thousand 
bursting hearts reiterate, this was his error. Shall 
I apologize ? I am forbidden, by his living protesta- 
tions, by his dying regrets, by his wasted blood. 
Shall a solitary act, into which he was betrayed and 
dragged, have the authority of precedent] The 
plea is precluded by the long decisions of his under- 
standing, by the principles of his conscience, and by 
the reluctance of his heart. Oh, when will our 
morals be purified, and an imaginary honour cease to 
cover the most pestilent of human passions/' 



July 12. 

John vii. 17. If any man will do his will, he shall know of 
the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of 
myself. 

Erasmus died, 1536. He was the most learned 
man of the age in which he lived. He had, however, 
many enemies, for as he did not embrace the Refor- 
mation, and yet censured many things in popery, he 
was treated injuriously by both Catholics and Pro- 
testants. We have an illustration of the above 
passage in Erasmus. He says that when he first 
read the New Testament with fear and a good 
mind, he found it very useful and very pleasant ; but 
when afterwards he gave himself up to the reading of 
a vast variety of Commentators, then he understood 
it less than before ; then he began not to understand 
it. Thus God will honour the work of his own 



208 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

Spirit ; while the reasonings of men often leave us in 
darkness and confusion. Men may philosophise and 
speculate till they are bewildered. The best way 
of beginning is to practise what we know. When 
Eudamidas heard old Xenocrates disputing so long 
about wisdom, he asked very soberly, " If the old 
man be yet disputing and inquiring concerning wis* 
dom, what time will he have left to use it?' So 
some have been so long speculating on religion, that 
they have had no time to be religious. The way to 
find out the truth, is to do the will of God as far as 
we know ; and to him that hath shall be given. 



July 13.. 

2 Samuel xxiii. 5. He hath made with me an everlasting 
covenant, ordered in all things and sure. 

The Rev. John Hubbard, minister at Stepney, 
died. Some of his last expressions were as follows: 
" I have no doubt of my eternal interest. Why will 
ye not let me diet Father, help me, my heavenly 
Father and my God* I desire to be resigned. Why 
should I desire to live 1 God has made with me an 
everlasting covenant, well ordered in all things, and 
sure; which is all my salvation, and all my desire. 
My Father in heaven, my covenant Father, help me ; 
lay no more upon me than thou wilt enable me to 
bear. Let patience have its perfect work. A God 
near at hand, and not afar off, a most endearing 
character. I was prepared for this illness; for I 
have been preaching upon these words, Rom. viii. 37. 
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors. 
These tabernacles of ours are from and ordered by 
God himself, every pin of them ; and it fs fit that he 
should have the pulling of them down in his own 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 209 

way. He doth all things with weight and measure. 
Having a desire to depart and he with Christ, which 
is best ; yet content I am to stay, if God has any 
further work for me to do, 1 put my trust in thee, 
O Lord. A preserver of hope. Let me not be 
ashamed. Put your trust in the Lord ; pour out 
your hearts before him : for God is a refuge for us. 
O Father of compassion help me !" He would often 
say, under his grievous pains and agonies, " It is 
well. It is fit we should endure pain and trouble 
here ; for we shall have none hereafter ; there the 
inhabitants shall not say they are sick. Man soon 
fell from his first covenant ; but God made a glorious 
covenant with his Son. Now let me give myself up 
to Christ." And then added, with a solemn pause 
after it, " I do, I do. O glorify God. I would 
have all men do it. Through him we are more than 
conquerors. He is all my salvation, and all my 
desire. Amen." After these and many other ex- 
pressions of the like believing, humble, resigned, 
joyful, and assured strain ; some of which were 
often repeated in the two or three last days of his 
illness, he said with his expiring breath, " I now give 
up the ghost." 



July 14. 

Rev. xix. 2. For true and righteous are his judgments ; for 
he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the 
earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of 
his servants at her hand. 

On this day, 1789, the Bastile, a most horrid 
prison in France was destroyed. This is considered 
as the commencement of the French Revolution ; 
an event of the most extraordinary kind, and which 
was attended, and has been followed with events 



210 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

unparalleled in history. Some have thought, and 
perhaps not improperly, that by the late £ala- 
mities, God has been avenging the blood of the 
righteous Protestants, who have from time to time 
suffered under the despotic power and dragon-like 
persecutions of the antichristian church of Rome. 
According to the calculation of some, about two 
hundred thousand suffered death in seven years 
under Pope Julian ; no less than a hundred thousand 
were massacred by the French in the space of three 
months ; the Waidenses who perished amounted to 
one million ; within thirty years, the Jesuits de- 
stroyed nine hundred thousand ; under the Duke of 
Alva thirty-six thousand were executed by the com- 
mon hangman; one hundred and fifty thousand 
perished in the inquisition; and one hundred and 
fifty thousand by the Irish massacre. Besides the 
vast multitudes of whom the world could never be 
particularly informed, who were proscribed, banished, 
starved, burnt, buried alive, smothered, suffocated, 
drowned, assassinated, chained to the gallies for life, 
or immured within the horrid walls of the Bastile, or 
others of their church or state prisons. According 
to some, the whole number of persons massacred 
since the rise of papacy, including the space of 1400 
years, amounts to fifty millions. 

On this day, 1699, died the Rev. Dr. Bates, one 
of the best writers and ablest divines of his day. 



July 15. 

2 Cor. vii. 6. God that comforteth those that are cast down. 

The Rev. Robert Fleming died, 1694. His 
natural parts were excellent, his understanding quick 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR, 211 

and penetrating, his judgment clear and profound, 
his fancy rich and fluent, his memory strong, and 
his expressions masculine, and of a peculiar grace. 
" My life (says he) was once made up of seeming 
contrarieties ; great outward trouble, and great in- 
ward comfort. And I never found (adds he) more 
comfort, than when I was under most affliction. 
Speaking of the differences of brethren in this city 
(London) he thus expressed himself; I am amazed 
to see good men thus tear one another in the dark. 
Nor can I understand how they should have grace 
in due exercise who value their particular designs 
above the interest of the catholic church, and who 
confine religion to their own notions and models." 
In order to have the year rightly carried on, it was 
his custom from the fifteenth or sixteenth year of 
his age to his last, to set apart the first day of every 
year, in a new self-surrender and dedication of him- 
self to God. Drawing near his end, he said, " I 
have been long above the fear of death." On being 
asked how he did, he said, " Never better," and 
soon after breathed his last in the 64th year of 
his age. 



July 16. 

Matt. v. 10. Blessed are they which are persecuted for 
righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 

Ann Askew was burnt alive in Smithfield in the 
26th year of her age, after having been first racked 
with the most savage cruelty in the Tower, for 
renouncing the errors of popery. One of her bio- 
graphers, who witnessed the unexampled sufferings 
of this amiable martyr, and beheld the affecting close 
of her life, says, that such a sweetness and serenity 
overspread her features at the moment she was 



212 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 






brought to execution, that she absolutely appeared 
like an angel divine. The account may be seen in 
my Anecdotes, vol. ii. page 15. Let us rejoice that 
these dreadful days of persecution are passed by; 
and that such horrid spectacles are not now to be 
witnessed. To God alone be the praise. 

This day is also noted for what is called the Hegira, 
or Mahomet's flight from Mecca to Medina, when he 
was expelled by the magistrates. See June 18. 



July 17. 

Ezra viii. 18. And by the good hand of our God upon us, 
they brought us a man of understanding. 

Dr. Watts born at Southampton, 1674. The 
name of Watts will always be heard with pleasure 
by all who love the truth and rejoice in its dissemina- 
tion. He was raised up by the providence of God 
in a suitable time ; and his praise will be in all the 
churches to the end of time. He was the eldest of 
nine children. He was given to books from his in- 
fancy ; and began, we are told, to learn Latin when 
he was four years old. " Such he was as every 
christian church would rejoice to have adopted. By 
his natural temper he was quick of resentment; but, 
by his established and habitual practice he was 
gentle, modest, and inoffensive. His tenderness 
appeared in his attention to children and to the 
poor. To the poor, while he lived in the family of 
Sir Thomas Abney, he allowed the third part of his 
annual revenue, though the whole was not a hundred 
a year ; and for children, he condescended to lay 
aside the scholar, the philosopher, and the wit, to 
write little poems of devotion, and systems of in- 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 213 

sfruction, adapted to their wants and capacities, 
from the dawn of reason, through its gradations of 
advance in the morning of life. Every man, ac- 
quainted with the common principles of human 
action, will look with veneration on the writer, who 
is at one time combating Locke, and at another 
making a catechism for children in their fourth year. 
A voluntary descent from the dignity of science is 
perhaps the hardest lesson that humility can teach. 
As his mind was capacious, his curiosity excursive, 
and his industry continual, his writings are very 
numerous, and his subjects various.'' See Nov. 25. 



July 18. 

Matt. xxii. 29. Ye do err not knowing the scriptures. 
1 John iv. 6. Hereby know we the spirit of truth and the 
spirit of error. 

Bullinger, the Switz reformer, born, 1504. 
His father was a man of considerable fortune; but 
brought up his children as if he had been in indigent 
circumstances. He sent this son, at twelve years of 
age, to a good school at Emmeric, in the duchy of 
Elves, where he studied the classics under Mosellanus. 
His father only gave him a suit of clothes when he 
sent him to this school, where he continued three 
years, and maintained himself by what he got in 
singing from door to door. He was put to such 
straits by his father to make him one day more 
sensible of the prayers of the poor. He is said to 
have been converted by the writings of Melancthon. 
He was famous for his zeal for the truth and opposi- 
tion to error. His Decads were held in high esti- 
mation by the Reformers. Archbishop Whitgift, 
in full convocation, 1586, procured an order to be 
made, that every minister of a certain standing 



214 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

should procure a copy of them, read one of the 
sermons contained in them every week, and make 
notes of the principal matter contained in the course 
of reading. A greater testimony of the excellence 
and utility of any man's work can scarcely be con- 
ceived. Zanchius, in a letter to Bullinger, men- 
tions with high commendation, Bullenger's. book 
De Origiue Erroris, and relates an anecdote of 
Montallinus a monk, who was burnt at Rome for 
the cause of truth, that the said good man, before 
Zanchius had seen the tract, persuaded him earnestly 
to peruse it; adding, that, if it could not be had 
upon other terms, he might esteem it a good bargain 
to pluck out his right eye for the purchase, and to 
read it with his left. I soon bought the book, says 
Zanchius, without losing my eyes ; and found it the 
delight of my soul. He died, Sept. 17, 1575. 
Though his pains were excruciating, he never ap- 
peared impatient nor unresigned, either by word or 
gesture, but prayed the more fervently. In the in- 
tervals of ease, he discoursed very pleasantly with 
his friends. He said at one time, " If the Lord will 
make any farther use of me and my ministry in his 
church, I shall willingly obey him ; but if he shall 
please (as I much desire) to take me out of this 
miserable life, I shall exceedingly rejoice ; as I shall 
be delivered from a wretched age, to go to my 
Saviour Christ." 



July 19. 

Psalm cvi. 1, 10. Praise ye the Lord. O give thanks unto 
the Lord, for he saved his people from the hand of them 
that hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the 
enemy. 

The Spanish Armada arrived in our channel, 1588. 
The objects they had in view, and the instruments of 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 215 

destruction they brought with them are well known. 
They were soon, however compelled to retreat. The 
following laconic inscription on a medal struck on 
the occasion, is nearly an exact account of that 
happy event. Venit, Videt, Fugit. It came, saw, 
and fled. The very elements fought against them. 
If in a variety of instances the language chosen 
above for this day was applicable to the Israelites, 
how may the Christian appropriate it to himself as 
being delivered from the worst of enemies by his 
Lord and Saviour. What reason then for joy and 
gratitude, " when he beholds his chief in triumph, 
and his enemies in chains. We can easily imagine 
how a Roman might fear an enemy while they waged 
war, and before the victory was obtained, but would 
he tremble when he saw these foes defeated, spoiled, 
and exposed to view, to prove the reality of their 
subjection ] What emotions were excited in all parts 
of England, through which the Spaniards were led, 
after the destruction of their invincible Armada; 
and when the instruments of their cruelty were 
carried along with them ! How fearless of enemies 
now taken captive, what joy at having escaped from 
their teeth. And shall not we rejoice in him who 
, has saved us from our enemies, and from the hand of 
them that hate us?" 



July 20. 

Matt. xx. 26. Whosoever will be great among you, let him 
be your minister. 

Dr. Twisse died, 1646, aged 70. He was vicar 
of Newbury, and prolocutor to the Assembly of 
Divines. He wholly applied himself for the good 
of the church ; and, in a country village, by close 



216 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR, 

study, laid the foundation of those works which all 
the reformed have admired. He gained vast repu- 
tation by his useful preaching and exemplary living. 
His most able adversaries have confessed that there 
was nothing then extant more accurate and full, 
touching the Arminian controversy, than what he 
published. And there have been scarce any who 
have written upon this argument since the publishing 
Dr. Twisse's works, but who have made an honour- 
able mention of him. He did not seek after riches, 
nor ecclesiastical dignities and preferments, but mo- 
destly refused them when they were offered him. 
He often congratulated himself on his low retired 
condition, as being liable to fewer temptations and 
dangers than in the episcopal dignity he might have 
been exposed to. He declined being warden of the 
college at Winchester, after being chosen, and ear- 
nestly requested to accept it ; as he did afterwards 
a prebend at Winchester; returning thanks to Dr. 
Moore his father-in-law, and other friends, but in- 
treating them to give him leave to abide at Newbury 
to attend that flock over which God had placed him. 
His health being impaired, and at length, while 
(says Clark) he spake unto God in the name of the 
people, and to the people in the name of God, and 
raised up the hearts of his hearers to heaven, he fell 
down in the pulpit. He was carried home, and 
lingered about a year ; during which he was visited 
by people of all ranks, who loved either religion or 
learning, to whom he gave comfortable evidences of 
his faith, and was himself a remarkable example of 
patience, till it had its perfect work, and faith was 
changed into the beatific vision of God. And so 
sensible was he of the approach of this change, that 
he said with almost his last words, in great peace 
and comfort, " Now at length I shall have leisure to' 
follow studies to all eternity/' The Doctor was 
allowed to be a person of extensive knowledge in 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR* 21? 

school divinity; a subtle disputant, and withal a 
modest, humble, and religious man. He lived under 
an abiding sense of the depravity of his nature, and 
in a frequent confession of sins, offering up unfeigned 
thanks to God, who, of his mere grace and love, 
had kept him from such honours as might have 
exposed him to temptations and snares. He reve- 
renced and esteemed all good men, and only thought 
mean of himself; he admired the gifts and graces of 
God in others, and highly prized and commended 
them, though they were far inferior to his own. He 
constantly kept a monthly fast in his own family, 
whereby he endeavoured to quicken his prayers, by 
which, with great importunity he pleaded with God 
in the behalf of the afflicted church of Christ, that 
God would be gracious unto it, and restore it to 
peace in his own due time. 



July 21. 

Amos iv. 3,6. Ye put far away the evil day, and drink wine 

in bowls. 
Eph. v. 18. Be not drunk with wine. 

The celebrated Scotch poet, Burns, died, 1796. 
He was the son of humble parents, and himself em- 
ployed in the capacity of ploughman. The expence 
of education in the parish schools in Scotland is so 
small, that hardly any parents who are able to 
labour, want the means of giving to their children at 
least such education as young Burns received. From 
the spring labours of a ploughboy, from the summer 
employment of a shepherd, the peasant youth often 
returns for a few months, eagerly to pursue his edu- 
cation at the parish school. It was so with young 
Burns ; he returned from labour to learning, and 
from learning went again to labour, till his mind 
L 



218 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

began to open to the charms of taste and know- 
ledge ; till he began to feel a passion for books, and 
for the subjects of books, which was to give a colour 
to the whole thread of his future life. On nature 
be soon began to gaze with new discernment, and 
with new enthusiasm ; bis mind's eye opened to per- 
ceive affecting beauty and sublimity, where, by the 
mere gross peasant, there was nought to be seen but 
water, earth, and sky, — but animals, plants, and soil. 
For some time, he conversed only with the virtuous, 
the learned, and the wise ; and the purity of his 
morals remained uncontaminated. But alas ! h< j fell, 
as others have fallen in similar circumstanc s. He 
suffered himself to be surrounded by a race of 
miserable beings, who were proud to tell that they 
had been in company with Burns, and had ^een 
Burns as loose and as foolish as themselves. He was 
not yet irrecoverably lost to Temperance and modera- 
tion ; but he was already almost too much captivated 
with their wanton revels to be ever more won back 
to a faithful attachment to their more sober charms. 
He now also began to contract something of new 
arrogance in conversation. Accustomed to be among 
his favourite associates, and looked upon as chief 
of the company, he could scarcely refrain from in- 
dulging in similar freedom and dictatorial decision 
of talk, even in the presence of persons who could 
less patiently endure his presumption. In the in- 
tervals between his different fits of intemperance, he 
suffered still the keenest anguish of remorse, and 
horribly afflictive foresight. At last he became 
crippled, emaciated, having the very power of ani- 
mation wasted by disease, quite broken hearted by 
the spnse of his errors, and of the hopeless miseries 
in which he saw himself and his family depressed; 
with his soul still tremblingly alive to the sense of 
shame and to the love of virtue. Yet even in the 
last feebleness, and amid the last agonies of expiring 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 219 

life, he yielded readily to any temptation that afforded 
the semblance of intemperate enjoyment. He died 
at Dumfries, while he was yet three or four years 
under the age of forty, furnishing a melancholy 
proof of the danger of suddenly elevating even the 
greatest mind above its original level." 



July 22. 

Col. iii. 5. Mortify therefore your members which are upon 

the earth. 
2 Con. v. 15. They which live should not henceforth live 

unto themselves, but unto him who died for them. 

Mortification is a very important duty, to be at- 
tended to by all who desire the prosperity of their 
souls ; but the means which many have adopted to 
effect it have been unscriptural and enthusiastic. 
St. Benedict roiled himself on thorns; St. Martinian 
burnt his flesh ; St. Francis tumbled in snow ; St. 
Bernard in pools of water; Pascal wore an iron 
girdle full of sharp points next to the skin ; but all 
these are useless without divine aid; self-examina- 
tion, prayer, temperance, are doubtless necessary, 
but, as Dr. Owen observes, the principal efficient 
cause of the performance of this duty is the Spirit. 
Rom. viii. 13. All other ways of mortification are 
vain, all helps leave us helpless without the Holy 
Spirit. " It grieves me," continues the Doctor, " to 
" see poor souls that have a zeal for God, and a 
desire of eternal welfare, kept under a hard, burden- 
some, outside worship and service of God, with 
many specious endeavours for mortification in an 
utter ignorance of the righteousness of Christ and 
his Spirit all their days." I would advise every 
one to read Dr. Owen's admirable treatise on this 
subject. 

L 2 



220 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

" Five persons/' says Mr. Brooks, " were studying 
what were the best means to mortify sin ; one said, 
To meditate on death ; the second, To meditate on 
judgment; the third, To meditate on the joys of 
heaven ; the fourth, To meditate on the torments of 
hell ; the fifth, To meditate on the blood and suffer- 
ings of Jesus Christ: and certainly the last is the 
choicest and strongest motive of all. If ever we 
would cast off despairing thoughts, we must dwell 
and muse much upon, and apply this precious blood 
to our own souls, so shall sorrow and mourning flee 
away/' 

Luther relates concerning one Staupicius, a Ger- 
man divine, that he acknowledged, that before he 
came to understand the free and powerful grace of 
Christ, lie resolved and vowed a hundred times 
against a particular sin ; yet could never get power 
over it, nor his heart purified from it, till he came 
to see that he trusted too much to his own resolu- 
tions, and too little to Jesus Christ : but when his 
faith had engaged against his sin, he obtained the 
victory. 

" The first argument propounded in the gospel to 
persuade to repentance, is, says one, the death of 
Jesus Christ. It is said of Antonius, a Roman 
senator, that intending to provoke the people to 
revenge the death of Caesar, slain at the senate, by 
Brutus and Cassius, he brought out his bloody robe, 
and cried out, " Here is the bloody robe of your 
quondam emperor." Thus the gospel presents to 
our faith a crucified Christ and slain Saviour, — slain 
for and by our sins, that we may look on him whom 
we have pierced, and mourn over him ; that we may 
see him whom our lusts have slain, and be revenged 
on them by repentance." 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 221 



July 23. 

Acts xxvi. 8. Why should it be thought a thing incredible 
with you that God should raise the dead. 

" An Atheist/' says the great Halyburton, " is a 
monster in nature. That there is nothing to be ex- 
pected after this life, and that man's soul dies with 
the body, is a desperate conclusion, which ruins the 
foundation of all human happiness, even in the 
judgment of the Deists themselves. Annihilation is 
so horrible to human nature, and has so frightful a 
visage to men, who have a desire of perpetuity inlaid 
in their very frame, that none can look at it seriously 
without the utmost dread. I have been credibly 
informed, says the same author, that a gentleman of 
no contemptible parts, who had lived as if indeed he 
were to fear or hope nothing after time, being in 
prison, and fearing death, fell thinking seriously on 
annihilation. The fears of it had so deep and hor- 
rible an impression, on his mind, that he professed to 
a gentleman who visited him in prison, and found him 
quite dejected, that the thoughts of annihilation were 
so dreadful to him, that he had rather think of a 
thousand years in hell." How delightful is the state 
of a Christian when contrasted with this. He can 
look into the grave without dismay, and rejoice in 
hope of the glory of God. 

" The darkest Pagans," says Dr. Bates, " have 
acknowledged a Deity, and a providence, and conse- 
quently a future judgment. Indeed this spark was 
almost drowned in an abyss of fables : for in expli- 
cating the process and recompenses of the last judg- 
ment, they mixed many absurd fictions with truth* 
but in different manners they acknowledged the 
same thing, that there remains another life, and two 
contrary states, according to our actions here. Of 
L 3 



222 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR, 

this we have a perfect conviction from the immortal 
hopes in good men, and the endless fears of the 
wicked. The directive understanding that tells man 
his duty, has a reflective power, and approves or 
condemns with respect to the supreme court, where 
it shall give a full testimony. Hence it is that 
conscience, so far as innocent, makes an apology 
against unjust charges, and sustains a man under 
the most cruel sentence, being persuaded of a su- 
preme tribunal that will rectify the errors of man's 
judgment: but when guilty, terrifies the offender 
with flashes of judgment to come, though he may 
escape present sufferings. Of this double power of 
conscience I shall add some lively examples. 

" Plato represents his admirable Socrates after an. 
unjust condemnation to death in the prison at Athens, 
encompassed with a noble circle of philosophers, dis- 
coursing of the soul's immortality, and that having 
finished his arguments for it, he drank the cup of 
poison with an undisturbed courage, as one that did 
not lose but exchange this short and wretched life 
for a blessed and eternal. For thus he argued, That 
there are two ways of departing souls, leading to 
two contrary states, of felicity and of misery. Those 
who had defiled themselves with sensual vices, and 
given full scope to boundless lust in their private 
conversation, or who by frauds and violence had been 
injurious to the commonwealth, are dragged to a 
place of torment, and for ever excluded from the 
joyful presence of the blessed society above. But 
those who had preserved themselves upright and 
chaste, and at the greatest distance possible from 
the contagion of the flesh, and had, during their 
union with human bodies, imitated the divine life, 
by an easy and open way returned to God from 
whom they came. 

" And this was not the sense only of the more 
virtuous heathens, but even some of those who had 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 223 

done the greatest force to human nature, yet could 
not so slacken their minds and corrupt their wills, 
but there remained in them stinging apprehensions 
of punishment hereafter. History informs us of 
many tyrants, that encompassed with the strongest 
guards, have been affrighted with the alarms of an 
accusing conscience, and seized on by inward terrors, 
the forerunners of hell; and in the midst of their 
luxurious stupifying pleasures, have been tormented 
with an evil spirit, that all the music in the world 
could not charm. The persons executed by their 
commands were always in their view, shewing their 
wounds, reproaching their cruelty, and citing them 
before the high and everlasting Judge, the righteous 
avenger of innocent blood. How fain would they 
have killed them once more, and deprived them of 
that life they had in their memories ; but that was 
beyond their power. Of this we have an eminou* 
instance in Tiberius, who in a letter to the senate, 
opened the inward wounds of his breast, with such 
words of despair as might have moved in pity those 
who were in continual fear of his tyranny. No 
punishment is so cruel as when the offender and exe- 
cutioner are the same person." 



July 24. 

Acts xvii. 1 1 . They searched the scriptures daily* 

The Rev. John Ryland died, 1792, aged 68. 
He was a man of lively feelings, strong miud, and 
great diligence. There were but few books, either 
in the liberal arts or in theology, deserving of regard, 
with which he had not acquainted himself. His 
chief acquisitions of this sort were made through 
early rising. For a great many years he rose very 
L 4 



224 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR, 

early, winter and summer, and employed the chief 
part of the morning, from four till seven, in reading ; 
but he began the day with reading the Scriptures. 
This practice he recommended in private and public 
to his fellow Christians, and to his brethren in the 
ministry* At the experience-meeting of the ministers, 
when the Association met at Kettering, in the year 
1781, the chief thing he related was, the advantage 
he had found in beginning with the Scriptures the 
very first thing in the morning. He used to say, 
that if he omitted it at any time, he found a sensible 
difference in the frame of his mind all that day. In 
one of the last sermons he preached, with great 
firmness, aud in a manner highly pleasing to many 
who were present, he said concerning dying, that 
the time when, the place where, and the manner 
how, were very indifferent to him; and, for more 
than one year before he died, if any one met him and 
asked him how he did, his most common answer 
was, I am going to Christ." Some of his last days 
were his best days ; while the Lord was taking down 
the tabernacle of nature, he was building up the 
temple of grace. In my last conversation with him, 
observes one, when most of his friends thought he 
was near home, he said, " I am safe and happy, 
Christ hath cut me down in my own righteousness, 
he has laid me open in my own guilt, and hath 
helped me to put my neck under his whole yoke." 
Those who were about him say that for six months 
before he died, he discovered the most perfect sub- 
mission to the divine will they ever saw. He died, 
not indeed expressing himself in the words he in- 
tended for his dying moment, but evidently experi- 
encing the truth of them, " Christ is Jehovah God, 
my righteousness and strength," 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 225 



July 25. 

Heb. xii. 28, 29. Let us have grsce whereby we may serve 
God with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a 
consuming fire. 

The fear peculiar to a Christian is not of that 
nature which is servile and tends to despair. It is 
not that of a slave but of a son. They who are 
influenced by too great a degree of fear, may at last 
become subject to such despondency as to give up 
all hope, and relax in their diligence in the use of all 
the means. When Dionysius the tyrant, says Bp. 
Taylor, imposed intolerable tributes upon his Sicilian 
subjects, it amazed them, and they petitioned and 
cried for help, and flattered him, and feared, and 
obeyed him carefully ; but he imposed still new ones, 
and greater, and at last left them poor as the valley 
of Vesuvius, or the top of i£tna; but then all being 
gone, the people grew idle and careless, and walked 
in the markets and public places, cursing the tyrant, 
and bitterly scoffing his person and vices ; which 
when Dionysius heard, he caused the publicans and 
committees to withdraw their impost; for now, says 
he, "they are dangerous because they are desperate." 
When men have nothing, says the same author, 
they will despise their rulers. So it is in religion. 
if our fears be unreasonable, our diligence is none 
at all, and from whom we hope for nothing, neither 
benefit nor indemnity, we despise his command, and 
break his yoke, and trample it under our most 
miserable feet. Let our confidence be allayed with 
fear, and our fear be sharpened with the intertextures 
of a holy hope ; and the active powers of our souls 
will be furnished with feet and wings, with eyes and 
hands, with consideration and diligence, with reason 
and encouragement. But despair is part of the 
L 5 



226 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

punishment that is in hell, and the devils still do 
evil things, because they never hope to receive a good 
nor find a pardon." 



July 26. 

1 Thess. J. 5. For our gospel came not to you in word only, 
but in power. 

The Rev. William Romaine died, 1795. He 
was a scribe well instructed in the kingdom of God. 
His public and private discourses, his publications 
and epistolary correspondence, sufficiently demon- 
strate the familiarity of his acquaintance with the 
plague of his own heart, the mighty influence of 
that faith which the Holy Ghost inspires, and the 
unutterable pleasure that results from an uniform 
dependence on the infinite merits of Jesus Christ* 
His subjects were the leading topics of the gospel. 
On these he preached, wrote, and conversed with 
peculiar emphasis. No man of distinguished abilities 
ever preserved so great a sameness of subjects, or 
supported so great a variety in discussing those 
subjects. As these enter into the hopes and fears, 
the joys and sorrows, the trials and triumphs, the 
wants and supplies ; in short, into the life and death 
of Christians, they were to his hearers ever new and 
ever sweet. This insured to him an unabated and 
distinguished popularity through a series of more 
than fifty years. On the 23d of July, as he sat at 
breakfast, he said, " It is now sixty years since God 
opened my mouth to publish the everlasting suffi- 
ciency and eternal glory of the salvation of Christ 
Jesus; and it has now pleased him to shut my 
mouth, that my heart might feel and experience what 
my mouth has so often spoken." About an hour 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 227 

before he died, his friend and host went up to him, 
and said, u I hope, Sir, you now find the salvation 
of Jesus Christ precious, dear, and valuable to you." 
He replied, " Yes, yes, he is precious to my soul." 
" More precious than rubies/* said his friend. " Yes, 
yes, yes, all that can be desired is not to be com- 
pared to him.' 1 " Now," said his friend, " he is 
the chiefest of ten thousand/' " Yes, yes, a tree 
of life." The last words he was heard to utter 
were, * Holy, holy, holy, blessed Jesus, to thee be 
endless praise/' 

The following circumstance is one instance among 
many, of the power of that gospel Mr. Romaine so 
delightfully preached. He was chosen to the rectory 
of Blackfriars, in 1764, but by the opposition of 
some who were unfriendly to the gospel, was kept 
our of the pulpit till early in the year 1766, when 
the Lord Chancellor, to the inexpressible joy of 
thousands, terminated the dispute in his favour. 
His election is said to have been principally owing 
to the influence of a publican. Mr. Romaine being 
informed of this circumstance, we are told, waited 
upon him to thank him for the zeal he had shewn on 
that occasion. " Indeed, Sir," he replied, " I am 
more indebted to you than you to me, for you have 
made my wife, who was one of the worst, the best 
woman in the world." 

Such is the tendency of the gospel, that wherever 
it is known and relt, it constrains men to relinquish 
their evil practices, and to cleave only to the Lord, 
Take here another instance. Dr. Carey thus writes, 
"The church at Cutiva is now small, but they have 
lately had the addition of one member, a native and 
1 hear of six or seven more who are dt-sirou* of 
being baptized. One of these, Kreesh* a Rosha, is 
a nutive merchant of considerable property, who 
f mnerly had a house of gods. After hearing a. id 
reading the gospel, he expelled his idols, tied tiiem 



228 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

up in straw, and sent them to brother Chamberlain, 
who sent them to Serampore, He also clave up a 
fine rutha or car of the god Krishna, and used it 
for firewood. His ci-devant temple is filled with 
merchandise." 



July 27. 

Psalm xviii. 2. The Lord is my rock and my fortress, and 
my deliverer. 

The Rev. and learned Thomas Gataker died, 
1654. He was lecturer at Lincoln's Inn, and rector 
of Rotherhithe in Surry. With great comfort he 
was enabled to apply the above words to himself in 
his last hours. " I am now," says he, rt conflicting 
with my last adversary, though I believe the sting is 
taken out. Nature will struggle, but I humbly 
submit unto the good pleasure of God. I heartily 
beg the pardon of my many sins, especially of my 
want of sedulity and fidelity in my public and private 
charge, hoping to be washed with Christ's blood, 
and desiring to be translated out of this restless 
condition. I expect daily, yea hourly, to be trans- 
lated into that everlasting rest which God hath pre- 
pared for them who are interested in Christ. How 
long, Lord, how long 1 come speedily. My heart 
fails, my strength fails, but God is my fortress, and 
the strong rock of my salvation. Into thy hands, 
therefore, I commend my soul; for thou hast re- 
deemed me, O God of truth." To his son he turned 
his discourse thus, " Son, you have a great charge, 
look to it, instruct your wife and family in the fear 
of God, and discharge your ministry conscientiously." 
To his sister, a gentlewoman two years older than 
himself, he said, " Sister, I thought you might have 
gone before me, but God calls me first ; I hope we 
shall meet in heaven." 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 220 

The following epigrammatic composition, supposed 
to be Mr. Gataker's was found among his papers ; 
and which the experienced Christian will well under- 
stand. 

I thirst for thirstiness ; I weep for tears, 

Well pleased I am to be displeased thus; 
The only thing 1 fear is want of fears ; 
Suspecting, I am not suspicious : 
I cannot choose but live, becau-e I die; 
And when I am not dead, how glad am I. 

Yet when T am thus glad for sense of pain, 
And careful am, lest I should careless be, 
Then do T grieve for being glad again, 

And fear lest carelessness take care from me, 
Amidst these restless thoughts, this rest I find,' 
For those who rest not here there's rest behind. 

On this day also (1680) died the Rev. Stephen 
Charnock, aged 52. " He was," says his bio- 
grapher, " a person of excellent parts, strong reason, 
great judgment, and (which do not often go together) 
curious fancy, of high improvements, and general 
learning, as having been all his days a most diligent 
and methodical student, and a great redeemer of 
time, rescuing not only his restless hours in the 
night, but his very walking time in the streets, from 
those impertinences and fruitless vanities, which do 
so customarily fill up men's minds, and steal away 
their hearts from those better and more noble objects, 
which do so justly challenge their greatest regards. 
This he did, by not only carefully watching (as every 
good Christian should do) but constantly writing 
down his thoughts, whereby he both governed them 
better, and furnished himself with many materials 
for his most elaborate discourses. His chief talent 
was his preaching gift ; in which, to speak modestly, 
he had few equals. To this, therefore, as that for 
which his Lord and Master had best fitted him 
(neglecting the practice of physic, in which he had 



230 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

arrived at a considerable measure of knowledge) he 
did especially addict himself and direct his studies, 
and even when Providence denied him opportunities, 
yet he was still laying in more stock, and preparing 
for work against he might be called to it. When he 
was in employment, none that heard him could 
justly blame his retiredness, he being, even when 
most private, continually at work for the public ; 
and had he been less in his study, he would have 
been less liked in the pulpit. He affected not much 
acquaintance, because he would escape visitants, 
well knowing how much the ordinary sort of friends 
were apt to take up of his time, which he could ill 
spare from his beloved studies, meeting with few that 
could give him better entertainment with their com- 
pany than he could give himself alone. They had 
need be very good, and very learned, by whose con- 
versation he could gain more than by his own thoughts 
and books." 



July 28. 

Luke xi. 26. Then goeth he and taketh to him seven other 
spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in and 
dwell there : and the last state of that man is worse than 
the first. 

Bishop Reynolds died, 1676. He bore an 
excellent character, for it is said of him, that he was 
a good man, a good Christian, a good minister, and a 
good bishop. The following remark of his will 
illustrate the above-mentioned passage : 

" The Persians had an annual festival called 
Vitiorum interitum, wherein they slew all serpents, 
and venomous creatures ; and after that, until the 
return of the same day, suffered them to swarm 
again as fast as ever. If we expect, in like manner, 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR, 231 

to destroy our sins only on one day of the year, as 
when we celebrate the Lord's supper, the evil spirit 
may, perhaps in policy, depart for a day, but surely 
he will return again, with seven other spirits, and 
make the end of that man worse than the beginning.'' 



July 29. 

Acts xviii. 13. This fellow persuadeth men to worship God 

contrary to the law. 
Isa. lxvi. 23. All flesh shall come to worship before me, 

saith the Lord. 

This is a memorable day in the annals of British 
and ecclesiastical history. The New Toleration Act 
passed, 1812 ; by which the Five Mile Act and the 
Conventicle Act were repealed. " The minds of 
religious persons, who feel earnestly desirous of 
spreading the knowledge of the gospel iu the uniu- 
structed parts of our country, had long been affected 
with painful apprehensions, lest the spirit of perse- 
cution, which had discovered itself in several parts 
of the kingdom, encouraged by a new and illiberal 
construction of the Toleration Act, which even the 
courts of law seemed inclined to confirm, should 
continue and increase, to their great annoyance, and 
the prevention of further efforts to do good. We 
rejoice, however, that from these apprehensions they 
will now be happily relieved, by an Act introduced 
by his Majesty's ministers, who, much to their 
honour, perceived and felt the necessity of uniting 
all loyal subjects in the bonds of peace and good-* 
will. The vigorous resistance which was made by 
the great body of Dissenters and Methodists to the 
Bill proposed by Viscount Sidmouth, has doubtless 
convinced the leading members of government how 
impossible it would be to abridge those religious pri- 



232 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

vileges which they and their ancestors have enjoyed 
for more than a century. The very attempt, how- 
ever, has been overruled by the good providence of 
God, as the means of enlarging them. The right of 
all men to worship God according to the dictates of 
their own consciences, is far better understood, and 
more generally acknowledged than it was two years 
ago. The progress of public opinion in favour of 
the lights of conscience has been remarkably rapid ; 
and we hope the time is at hand when no man of 
common sense will venture to expose himself by 
controverting those rights. 

On Friday, July 10, Lord Castlereagb, one of 
his Majesty's Secretaries of State, moved for, and 
obtained leave to bring in a Bill, the object of 
which was to put Dissenters into the same situation 
in which they were previously to some late decisions 
of Quarter Sessions respecting the qualification of 
teachers. The Bill was then brought up, and read 
the first time ; and after several amendments in its 
progress through both Houses, was finally passed. 
It enables every person to attend at such places of 
religious worship as he approves, without being 
liable to any future requisition to take any oaths ; 
and to preach, teach, and exhort, without previously 
attending at a sessions for the permission to dis- 
charge the duties which his conscience may suggest. 
The immunities and exemptions bestowed on preach- 
ers by the former Acts, and which were restricted to 
the appointed ministers of separate congregations, 
are more widely and beneficially diffused. The ju- 
dicial and discretionary power which was before 
asserted by magistrates, is entirely swept away ; and 
they must accommodate even the humblest religious 
instructor, whenever his own convenience shall in- 
duce him to take the oaths and sign the declaration, 
as pledges of his belief in the holy Scriptures, and of 
his fidelity to the State. As another advantage, we 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 233 

must not omit, that under the Toleration Act, no 
persons were liable to penalties for disturbing a con- 
gregation, unless they entered the place where the 
congregation was assembled ; but this Act will enable 
us to punish with equal certainty, those who are 
guilty of external clamour and disturbance, as those 
who may internally interrupt our devotion. While 
we afford our tribute of praise to the humane in- 
struments who have assisted the attainment of these 
advantages, we would endeavour to impress our own 
minds with that devotional gratitude which is due 
only to Him in whose hands are the hearts of men, 
and without whose blessing our ablest and our kindest 
friends would have laboured but in vain." 



July 30. 

Col. ii. 8. Beware lest any man spoil you through phi- 
losophy. 

The Rev. William Jones of Nayland born, 
1726. He was an ingenious man, and an able de- 
fender of the doctrine of the Trinity and divine in- 
spiration. " To us," he observes, " who live in the 
latter ages of the world, and have an opportunity of 
comparing our modern heathens with the heathens of 
antiquity, the inconsistency of error is very notori- 
ous, and ought to be seriously considered. In the 
days of Homer nothing was to be heard of but con- 
sultations with the Deity ; no step was to be taken 
in any great affair without auguries, oracles, sacri- 
fices, and prophetic dreams ; every notable action 
was imputed to the presence of some divine assistance ; 
and even human wisdom and prudence ascribed their 
superiority and success to open or secret inspiration. 
This was the fashion with the wisest nations in those 



234 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

days when the true God was more conversant with 
men, and gave answers to his people by priests and 
prophets. They that had apostatized from the true 
religion, never thought of denying the fact of in- 
spiration : they attempted to exceed it, and drown 
the fame of it by making a greater figure with other 
miracles and inspirations of their own; and their 
histories and compositions of every kind abound with 
them. But, now the age of inspiration and miracles 
is past, the adversaries have changed their ground ; 
human reason, which of old could do nothing without 
divination, is now sufficient of itself for every thing. 
Instead of applying to the Deky for wisdom and 
information, a new philosophy instructs us that every 
man has an oracle in his own breast ; and that 
natural reason will answer all the purposes of reve- 
lation. Thus does the fashion alter with times and 
occasions ; error changes its posture, but is no nearer 
to truth than it was before. The new philosopher, 
who looks with pity upon the heathen conjurers, his 
predecessors, is the slave of delusion in another 
shape; and he that now writes against the possibility 
of miracles, and mocks at ail pretensions to inspira- 
tion, because he has no taste for the religion which 
God hath revealed, would have sucked in the in- 
toxicating wind of Delphi, and employed his parts 
in studying the flight of crows, or the picking of 
chickens, if he had lived in the proper age of the 
world/' 

Mr. Jones was a laborious man, and a great enemy 
to idleness. In regard to idleness he says, " I ap- 
prehend there is not a more miserable as well as a 
more worthless being, than a young man of fortune 
who has nothing to do but to find some new way of 
doing nothing. In a neighbouring nation they endure 
no idleness among them. If any poor man turns 
idle, and admouition does him no good, they take 
the following method to make him work, they con- 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 235 

fine him in a large cistern, into which the water runs 
so fast, that unless he pumps it out with all his 
might for several hours, it will prevail over him and 
drown him." 

He was very desirous that the poor might be 
taught. " All arguments/' says he, " against teach- 
ing of the poor may be answered on this one con- 
sideration, that God hath given to man a revelation 
in writing. And yet reading is abused. I have 
heard of a mother who has gone into a werkhouse 
with a novel in her hands, followed by a family of 
ragged children/' 



July 31. 

Prov. xxii. 3. The simple pass on and are punished. 

Richard Savage died, 1743. He was a cele- 
brated English poet, and perhaps, as one observes, 
" one of the most remarkable characters that is to be 
met with in all the records of biography. He was 
a man of excellent parts, but his haughtiness, in- 
temperance, and ingratitude, defeated all the at- 
tempts of his friends to serve him ; insomuch that 
he concluded a life of penury and wretchedness ina 
jail at Bristol ; an eminent instance of the useless- 
ness and insignificancy of knowledge, wit, and genius, 
without prudence, and a regard to the common 
maxims of the world. He was buried in the church- 
yard of St. Peter, at the expence of the jailor. 
Savage was the son of the Countess of Macclesfield, 
and was born in 1608/' 

"During a considerable part of the time (says 
Dr. Johnson) in which he was employed in writing 
one of his pieces, he was without lodging, and often 
without meat; nor had he any other conveniences 



236 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 



for study than the fields or the streets allowed him % 
there he used to walk and form his speeches, and 
afterward step into a shop, and beg for a few moments 
the use of the pen and ink, and write down what he 
had composed upon paper which he had picked up 
by accident. 

He had, however, at last a pension allowed him 
by the Queen; but his conduct with regard to it 
was very particular* No sooner had he changed the 
bill, than he vanished from the sight of all his 
acquaintances, and lay for some time out of the 
reach of all the inquiries that friendship or curiosity 
could make after him. At length he appeared again, 
pehnyless as before, but never informed even those 
whom he seemed to regard most, where he had been, 
nor was his retreat ever discovered. He lodged as 
much by accident as he dined, and passed the night 
sometimes in mean houses, which are set open at 
night to any casual wanderers ; sometimes in cellars, 
among the riot and filth of the meanest and most 
profligate of the rabble; and sometimes, when he 
had not money to support even the expenses of these 
receptacles, walked about the streets till he was 
weary, and lay down, in the summer, upon a bulk, 
or, in the winter, with his associates in poverty, 
among the ashes of a glass-house. In this manner 
were passed those days and those nights which nature 
had enabled him to have employed in elevated specu- 
lations, useful studies, or pleasing conversation. On 
a bulk in a cellar, or in a glasshouse among thieves 
and beggars, was to be found the author of the 
Wanderer, the man of exalted sentiments, extensive 
views, and curious observations ; the man whose re- 
marks on life might have assisted the statesman; 
whose ideas of virtue* might have enlightened the 
moralist; whose eloquence might have influenced 
senates; and whose delicacy might have polished 
courts. So peculiar were the misfortunes of this 






PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 237 

man, deprived of an estate and title by a particular 
law, exposed and abandoned by a mother, defrauded 
by a mother of a fortune which his father had al- 
lotted him, he entered the world without a friend ; 
and though his abilities forced themselves into esteem 
and reputation, he was never able to obtain auy real 
advantage, and whatever prospects arose were always 
intercepted as he began to approach them. The 
king's intentions in his favour were frustrated ; his 
dedication to the prince, whose generosity on every 
other occasion was eminent, procured him no re- 
ward ; Sir Robert Waipole, who valued himself 
upon keeping his promise to others, broke it to 
him without regret ; and the bounty of the Queen 
was, after her death, withdrawn from him, and from 
him only." 



August 1. 

Deut. xxxiii. 19. They shall suck of the abundance of the 
seas, and of the treasures hid In the sand. 

It was on this day that Columbus discovered the 
continent of America, in the year 1498. This dis- 
covery was no doubt intende d by Providence for the 
wisest of purposes, as the resub has proved. Here 
it was tha* many who were persecuted in England 
for conscience sake, found a refuge. Many indeed 
were their difficulties, but they preferrea the wilds of 
America rather than violate their consciences. Here 
too they learned something which probably they 
would have been ignorant of had they remained at 
home. Among irany other hardships, they were 
sometimes in such straits for bread, that trie very 
crusts of their former tables in England would have 
been a dainty to them. Upon one occasion necessity 
drove the women and children to the sea-side to look 



238 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR, 

for a ship expected to bring thein provision ; but 
no ship for many weeks appeared ; however they 
saw in the sand vast quantities of shell-fish, since 
called clams, a sort of muscle. Hunger impelled 
them to taste, and at last they fed almost wholly on 
them, and to their own astonishment were as cheer- 
ful, fat, and lusty, as they had been in England with 
their fill of the best provisions. A worthy man, one 
day after they had dined on clams without bread, 
returned God thanks for causing them to suck of the 
abundance of the seas, and of the treasures hid in 
the sand, a part of the blessing with which Moses 
blessed the tribe of Zebulun before his death; a 
passage till now unobserved by the company, but 
which ever after endeared the writings of Moses to 
them. 



August 2. 

Psalm xx. 7. Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: 

but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. 
Judges i. 7. As I have done, so God hath requited me. 

William II, shot in the New Forest, Hants, 1100, 
by Walter Tyrrell, a French gentleman, remarkable 
for his skill in archery. The following will tend to 
illustrate the passage above chosen. William having 
seen the coast of Ireland from some rocks in North 
Wales, is reported to have said, "1 will summon 
hither all the ships of my realm, and with them make 
a bridge to attack that country " This threatening 
being reported to Murchard, Prince of Leinster, he 
paused a moment, and then said, " Did the king add 
to this mighty threat, if God please ?" and being 
assured he made no mention of God in his speech, 
he replied, rejoicing in such a prognostic, " Sure 
that man puts his trust in human, not in divine 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 239 

power, I fear not his coming." The reader knows 
how to apply this anecdote. 

William was buried without pomp or ceremony at 
Winchester. It was remarked in that age, that 
Richard, an elder brother of William, perished by an 
accident in the New Forest; Richard his nephew, 
natural son of Duke Robert, lost his life in the same 
place, after the same manner, and all men upon the 
king's fate exclaimed, that as the Conqueror had 
been guilty of extreme violence in expelling all the 
inhabitants of that large district to make room for 
his game, the just vengeance of the Almighty was 
signalized in the same place by the slaughter of his 
posterity. 



August 3. 

Heb. x. 23. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith. 
1 Pet. v. 7. Casting all your care upon him, for he careth 
for jou. 

The Rev. Jonathan Burr died, 1641, in New 
England, America, where he and many others had 
fled to avoid persecution here in England. He had 
just returned from preaching oti the redeeming of 
time, when he fell into a sickness of ten days con- 
tinuance; in the course of which there appeared in 
him a wonderful patience and submission. His wife, 
perceiving his willingness to die, asked him, Whether 
he was desirous to leave her and his children] To 
whom he answered, " Do not mistake me. I am not 
desirous of that ; but I bless God, that now my will 
is the Lord's will. If he will have me to live yet 
with my deur wife and children, 1 am willing. \ will 
say to you* my dear wife and children, as the apos*le 
says, It is better for you that 1 abide with you; but 
it is better for me to be dissolved and be with 



240 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

Christ/' And perceiving his wife disconsolate, he 
asked her, " If she could not be willing to part 
with him ¥' And on her saying, by way of answer, 
" How hard it was," he replied, " that God would 
be better than ten thousand husbands ;" adding, 
" Our parting is but for a time, 1 am sure we shall 
one day meet again. I lie sluggish in bed, when 
others are at work." Observing how diligently his 
wife attended him, he said to her, " Do not spend so 
much time with me, but go thy way, and spend some 
time in prayer. Thou knowest not what thou may est 
obtain from God. I fear, lest thou look too much 
upon this affliction." The night before he died, he 
was overheard to say, " I will wait until my c ange 
come. And why art thou so lothe to die." A few 
hours before his departure, it was observed, that he 
had a sore conflict with the angel of death, who shot 
his last arrow at him. And when one who attended 
him said, u The sting of death is taken away. The 
Lord Jesus Christ has overcome death for you. This 
is one of Satan's last assaults ; his work is now al- 
most at an end, though he be a subtle enemy, and 
would, if it were possible, deceive the very elect;" 
lie presently broke in on the speaker, " If it were 
possible," said he, " but ble-sed be God there is no 
possibility." Seeing the company lothe to leave the 
room, he prayed in Latin, as long as he had strength 
to do it. And when he was to appearance just ex- 
piring, he called out for his wire, and stHfastly 
fixing his eyes upon her, said, " Cast thy care upon 
God, for he careth for thee/ And the words, 
u Hold fast, hold fast,'' spoken to her, were the last 
he uttered. He was of so charitable a disposition, 
that when it was intimated to him, that he might err 
in reserving no more for himself, he would answer, 
*' I often think of those words, He that soweth 
sparingly, shall reap sparingly." Whenever he was 
informed that any thought meanly of him, he would 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITORc 241 

say, without being moved at it, "I think meanly of 
myself, and therefore may weil be content that others 
should think meanly of me." Mr. Thomas Hooker, 
a preacher of New England, being one of his auditors 
when he preached to a great assembly at Charles 
Town near Boston, thus expressed himself concern- 
ing hi$j, "Surely this man will not be long out of 
heaven, ^r he preaches as if he were there already."' 



August 4. 

Ne.hem. vi. 3. I am doing v a great work, and I cannot come 

down. 
Dax. ill. 18. Be it known unto thee, O king, that we will 

not serve thy gods. 

Archbishop Abbott died at his palace at 
Croydon, 1633, aged 71. He was one of the eight 
divines to whom the care of translating the New 
Testament now in use was committed, the Epistles 
excepted. His conduct was an illustration of the 
above passages, for he manifested great firmness in 
opposing the King's Declaration for permitting sports 
on the Lord's day, which was dated at Greenwich, 
May 4, 1618. This Declaration was ordered to be 
read in churches, aSd the Archbishop, being acci« 
dentally at Croydon in Surry when it came hither, 
had the courage to forbid it being read ; which, how- 
ever, the King winked at, notwithstanding there were 
some about him who let no opportunity slip of irri- 
tating him against this prelate. He was a man of 
great natural parts, and those sufficiently improved 
for the worthy performance of whatever his high 
station in the church required. He was, says one 9 
a person of wonderful temper and moderation ; and 
in all his conduct, shewed an unwillingness to stretch 
the Act of Uniformity, beyond what was then thought 
M 



242 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR, 

absolutely necessary for the peace of the churchy or 
the prerogative of the crown, or any farther than 
conduced to the good of the state. Being not well 
turned for a court, though otherwise of considerable 
learning and genteel education, he either could not* 
or would not stoop to the humour of the times ; and 
iiow and then, by an unreasonable stiffness, gave 
occasion to his enemies to represent him as not well 
inclined to the prerogative, or too much addicted to 
a popular interest; and therefore not fit to be em- 
ployed in matters of government/' 

On this day also (1804) Admiral Lord Duncan 
died suddenly, on his way to Edinburgh. It is said 
that he was a man of unaffected piety. When the 
victory off Camperdown was decided, he ordered the 
crew of his ship to be called together, and at their 
head, upon his bended knees, in the presence of the 
captured Dutch Admiral (who was greatly affected 
with the scene) solemnly and pathetically offered up 
praise and thanksgiving to the God of battles. 



August 5. 

John v, 3a. He was a burning and a shining light, and ye 

were willing for a season to rejoice in his light. 
Job ix. 12. Behold he tak^th away, who can hinder him. 
S Sam. i. 26. I am distressed for thee my brother. 

The Rev. Thomas Spencer drowned, while 
bathing at Liverpool, 1811. The particulars of this 
awful event are so well known, that they need not be 
detailed here That he was a burning and shining 
light, possessed of eminent abilities, all who knew 
him must acknowledge. The following testimony to 
his worth by one of the most eloquent writers of the 
present day* seems to be just. " The unequalled 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 248 

admiration he excited while living, and the deep and 
universal concern expressed at his death, demonstrate 
him to have been no ordinary character ; but one of 
those rare specimens of human nature, which the 
great Author of it produces at distant intervals, and 
exhibits for a moment, while he is hastening to make 
them up amongst his jewels. His talents in the 
pulpit were unrivalled, and had his life been spared, 
lie would in all probability have carried the art of 
preaching, if it may be so styled, to a greater per* 
fection than it ever attained, at least in this kingdom. 
His eloquence appears to have been of the purest 
stamp, effective, not ostentatious, consisting less in 
the preponderance of any one quality requisite to 
form a public speaker* than in an exquisite combina- 
tion of them all; whence resulted an extraordinary 
power of impression, which was greatly aided by a 
natural and majestic elocution. To those eminent 
endowments, he added, from the unanimous testimony 
of those who knew him best, a humility and modesty, 
which, while they concealed a great part of his ex- 
cellencies from himself, rendered them the more en- 
gaging and attractive. When we reflect on these 
circumstances, we need the less wonder at the pas- 
sionate concern excited by his death. For it may 
truly be said of him* as of Stephen, that devout men 
made great lamentation over him. May the im- 
pressions produced by the event never be effaced ; 
and above all, may it have the effect of engaging such 
as are embarked in the christian ministry to work 
while it is called to-day." 



M 2 



244 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 



August 6. 

Pro v. xvii. 27. A man of understanding is of an excellent 
spirit. 

Fenelon, the celebrated archbishop of Cambray* 
was borti at the castle of Fenelon in Perigord, in the 
late province of Guinne, France, 1651. Few names 
are more revered by the wise and pious than that of 
Fenelon. He was held in high esteem by the con- 
tending armies that ravaged Europe in the beginning 
of the last century, and made his diocese at one time 
part of the seat of war. The French generals were 
perfectly charmed with his benevolence, particularly 
towards their wounded soldiers, with whom he filled 
his palace, and hired houses for those whom his 
palace would not contain. And he was held in 
equal admiration by those celebrated Protestant 
geuerals, Marlborough, Ormond, and Eugene, who 
when they entered his territories, guarded them with 
the same care as if they had belonged to themselves, 
suffering no hand to ravage them, and contending 
in marks of attention and respect towards him ! 
This most amiable man, after acquitting himself in 
all the duties of his station and leading a most 
exemplary life, expired in 1715, in the 64th year 
of his age* 



August 7. 

Acts xvi. 31. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Mr. John Bacon, the celebrated sculptor, diedj 
1799. His abilities as an artist were very consider- 
able, but faith in Jesus Christ seemed to him of id- 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR, 245 

finitely more consequence than all things beside. He 
ordered by his will the following inscription to be 
placed on a plain stone over his grave. 

What I was as an artist 

Seemed to me of some importance 

while I lived, 

But 

What I really was as a believer 

in Christ Jesus 

Is the only thing of importance 

to me now. 

Providence seems to have peculiarly favoured his 
infancy ; for when he was about five years of age, he 
fell into the pit of a soap-boiler, and would have 
perished, if a man, who then entered the yard, had 
not discovered the top of his head, and immediately 
drawn him out. About the same time he fell before 
a cart, the wheel of which went over his right hand, 
and must have crushed it, had it not fallen between 
two projecting stones. 

A proof of his filial affection ought here to be re- 
corded. At an early period of life he principally 
supported his parents by the produce of his labours, 
even to the abridging himself of the necessaries of 
life. His favourite topic was the character of man, 
and he often discoursed upon that utter dependence, 
yet intolerable pride, which is so observable in 
human nature. " We are all beggars at best," said 
he, " but are ready to forget it, and that is one 
source of our pride/' Two beggars stand at a door, 
the one receives a penny, the other a guinea ; it is 
well if the latter does not begin to imagine some 
reason of the distinction : it is well if he does not 
swell upon it, and turn in contempt upon his fellow. 
Yet this is but a picture of a man's admiration of 
his gifts/' This view of the matter led him to be 
ever suspicious of himself, and glad of any hint from 
M 3 



246 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

his friends. " I find I can know but little of even 
the world before me, nor can I independently take a 
single step in it safely ; what ihen can I do with 
respect to the next world without any Bible ? I find 
myself, indeed, in the midst of a system of deep 
moral disorder and perpetual vicissitude : — If I listen 
to the philosophers, I hear them obtruding ten thou- 
sand opinions which only tend to prove each other a 
fool. Besides which, none of them offers any thing 
that meets, and much less that relieves my case. 
One cheering light only shines into this our moral 
darkness. It shews me the holy law I ought to 
obey, and declares my true character as a trans- 
gressor from the womb. I feel that very depravity 
and weakness in my nature which it describes. I 
have erred and strayed like a lost sheep, and feel no 
health in me. In such a state dare I venture my 
soul upon conjectures and probabilities ? Once, in- 
deed, I was driven to lay hold on the only hope set 
before me in the gospel from imperious necessity; 
but since, I feel drawn to embrace it for its excel- 
lence. If infinite wisdom, holiness, power, and love, 
unite in appointing my ransom only through a Saviour 
on the cross, God forbid that I should glory, save in 
that alone. There I see the perfections of God 
harmonized, his law magnified, the evil of sin escaped. 
I see the worth of the soul, the vanity of the world, 
and the grace and grandeur of the gospel. With a 
dispensation so suited to my condition, can I hesi- 
tate? I tremble at the thought of being found 
negligent under a constitution in which God the 
Father is willing to become my Father; God the Son 
my Redeemer; God the Spirit my Guide, Sanctifier, 
and Comforter. Besides which, in this high and 
warranted friendship, I find not only motive, but, 
strength for proceeding soberly, righteously, and 
godlily, in this present world, and confidence to 
assuredly wait for a better. 1 have, as well as 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 247 

others, looked around me for some other standing, 
but find I can abide possible consequences upon no 
lower ground. I will, therefore, neither be frowned 
nor flattered out of a privilege of which I am so 
distinctly conscious. A man may as well tell me I 
never received nourishment from bread, nor light nor 
warmth from the sun ! Verily it is Christianity or 
nothing, or worse than nothing." A baronet, who is 
still living, and who was examining his works, per- 
ceived among them a bust of the late Rev. Mr, 
Whitfield. " Mr. B." said he, " after all that has 
been said, this was truly a great man, — he was the 
founder of a new religion. 7 ' " A new religion, Sir P" 
replied Mr. B. " Yes," said the baronet, * what do 
you call it V " Nothing," replied Mr. B. " but the 
old religion revived with new energy, and treated as 
if the preacher really meant what he said." 



August 8. 

Psalm lviii. 5. Which will not hearken to the voice of 
charmers, charming never so wisely. 

Both Volney and Bruce have expatiated on the 
curious subject of the incantation of a particular 
class of serpents, and they entertain no doubt of its 
reality. It is certainly alluded to, not only hi the 
above passage, but in others (Eccles. x. 11. Jer. viii. 
17.) Some of the natives can play with the cerastes 
(or horned viper), which to them is perfectly harm- 
less; for it will not attempt to injure them: but 
when applied to a hen, or any other animal, they 
have instantly bit and killed them : so that, accord- 
ing to the above-mentioned writers, the secret con- 
sisted not in depriving the animal of its noxious 
powers, but in some irresistable charm. Some of the 
Negroes in America and the West Indies are said to 
M 4 



248 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

possess the power of charming the most venomous 
serpents, by drinking the juice of a particular plant, 
and inoculating themselves with some of the same 
liquid. 

Wier speaks of a charmer at Saltsburg, that when 
he had charmed a company of serpents into a ditch 
and killed them ; at last there came one of a much 
larger size than all the rest, which leaped upon him, 
wound about his waist like a girdle, and killed him. 
I had it, says Mr. Foster, from one who was witness 
to the fact, who saw a serpent charmed with music, 
but when the music ceased, it seized the man and 
killed him. So it has been with wicked men ; how- 
ever for a time they have pretended to be pleased 
with the gospel, they have at last rejected it, and 
become the opposers and destroyers of the propa- 
gators of it. 



August 9. 

Rom. v. 11 . And not only so, but we also joy in God through 
our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we hav e now received the 
atonement. 

Dr. Evans of Bristol died, 1791. He was an 
excellent man, and firmly attached to the essential 
doctrines of Christianity. Like the apostle above 
quoted, he rejoiced in the merits and blood of a 
crucified Saviour. He left this testimony in favour 
of the doctrine of the atonement. " As for those 
who deny this doctrine, I cannot tell how it may be 
with them in the near prospect of death ; for my 
own part I have nothing to rest my soul upon but 
Christ and him crucified, and I am now unspeakably 
happy to think my feeble effort to vindicate that 
glorious doctrine in my four sermons on it," 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 249 



August 10. 

Psalm lxxxiv. 11. No good thing will he withhold from them 
that walk uprightly. 

The Rev. Henry Erskine died, 1698, aged 72. 
His father had 33 children, of whom this Henry was 
one. Ebenezer and Ralph Erskine were the sons of 
this Mr. Henry Erskine. Although many Christians 
have been reduced to circumstances of distress and 
poverty, yet their wants have been wonderfully sup- 
plied by Divine Providence. Mr. Erskine, after his 
ejectment from Corn hill in the county of Northum- 
berland, was often in great straits and difficulties. 
Once when he and his family had supped at night, 
there remained neither bread, meal, flesh, nor money 
in the house. In the morning the young children 
cried for their breakfast, and their fajher endeavoured 
to divert them, and did what he could at the same 
time to encourage himself and his wife to depend 
upon that Providence which feeds the young ravens 
when they cry for food. While he was thus engaged, 
a countryman knocked hard at the door, and called 
for some one to help him off with his load. Being 
asked whence he came, and what he would have, he 
told them he came from Lady Redburn with some 
provision for Mr. Erskine. They told him he must 
be mistaken, and that it was more likely to be for 
another Mr. Erskine in the same town. He replied, 
No; he knew what he said, he was sent to Mr. 
Henry Erskine, and cried, Come help me off with my 
load, or else I will throw it down at the door. 
Whereupon they took the sack from him, and upon 
opening it found it well stored with fish and meat. 
At another time, being at Edinburgh, he was so 
reduced, that he had but three halfpence in his 
pocket, when he was walking about the stree's, not 
M 5 



250 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 






knowing what course to steer, one came to hiin in a 
countryman's habit, and presented him with a letter, 
in which were inclosed seven Scotch ducatoons, with 
these words written, *-' Sir, receive this from a sympa- 
thizing friend. Farewell." On inquiry of the man 
who was his benefactor, he told him secrecy was en- 
joined on him; nor could Mr. Erskine ever learn 
from whom the money came. At another time, being 
on a journey on foot, his money fell short, and he 
was in danger of being reduced to distress. Having 
occasion to fix his walking stick in the marshy ground 
among some rushes, he heard somewhat tinkle at the 
end of it; whereupon stooping down, he fomid two 
half crowns, which did him great service in bearing 
his charges home. There may appear something of 
the marvellous in these relations, but they are handed 
down to us from good authority. Iudeed days of 
persecution have been seasons in which God has 
wonderfully interposed for the support of his people. 
Let not the righteous then fear. His bread shall be 
given him, and his water shall be sure. 



August 1 1 . 

Gal. ii. 16. For by the works of the law shall no flesh be 
justified. 

The Rev. Augustus Toplady died, 1778. He 
was a strenuous advocate for the doctrines of Calvin, 
and pushed his adversaries, it is said, with more in- 
flexibility, intrepidity and vigour, than was ever done 
by any preceding champion. He gives us the follow- 
ing illustration cf the above passage. 

" Sir Janes Thornhill was the person who painted 
the inside of the cupola of St. Paul's, London. After 
having finished one of the compartments, he stepped 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 251 

back gradually, to see how it would look at a distance. 
He receded so far (still keeping his eye intently fixed 
on the painting) that he was got almost to the very 
edge of the scaffolding, without perceiving it: had he 
continued to retreat, half a minute more would have 
completed his destruction; and he must have fallen 
to the pavement underneath. A person present, 
who saw the danger the great artist was in, had the 
happy presence of mind suddenly to snatch up one 
of the brushes, and spoil the painting, by rubbing it 
over. Sir James, transported with rage, sprung for- 
ward to save the remainder of the' piece. But his 
rage was soon turned into thanks, when the person 
told him, " Sir, by spoiling the painting, I have saved 
the life of the painter. You were advanced to the 
extremity of the scaffold without knowing it. Had 
I called out to you, to apprize you of your danger, 
you would naturally turned to look behind you ; and 
the surprize of finding yourself in such a dreadful 
situation, would have made you fall indeed. I had 
therefore no other method of retrieving you, but by 
acting as I did. 

" Similar, if I may so speak, is the method of 
God's dealing with his people. We are all naturally 
fond of our own performances. We admire them to 
our ruin, unless the Holy Spirit retrieve us from our 
folly, This he does by shewing us the insufficiency 
of our works to justify us before God; and that by 
the deeds of the law no flesh living can be justified/' 



August 12. 

Job xxx. 23. For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, 
and to the house appointed for all living. 

Jonas Han way, Esq. was born, 1712, at Ports- 
mouth, He devoted the last thirty years of his life 
M t> 



252 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

almost exclusively to the service of mankind. The 
forlorn chimney sweepers, the Marine Society, the 
Magdalen, the Foundling, the Sunday Schools, and 
many other objects, he countenanced, and whose 
welfare he assiduously endeavoured to promote. He 
was particularly impressed with the awful idea of 
mortality. Many men, knowing that death is in- 
evitable, endeavour to banish the idea from their 
minds ; but he seemed to place before him the senti- 
ment expressed in the above passage of scripture. 
He caused the following to be inscribed on a large 
plate of brass enamelled, so contrived as to slide on 
rollers, and form the back of a wardrobe, and lock 
in a secret manner. At the top of the plate was 
painted, on the left side, himself in an infant state, 
and on the right, on a death bed, and underneath 
the lines, 

I believe that my Redeemer livetb, 

And that I also shall rise from 

the grave. 

JONAS HANWAY, Esq. 

Who trusting in that good Providence 

Which so sensibly governs the world, 

Passed through a variety of fortunes with patience* 

Living the greatest part of his days 

In foreign lands, ruled by arbitrary power, 

He received the deeper impression 

Of the happy constitution of his own country, 

Whilst 

The persuasive laws contained in the 

New Testament, 

And the consciousness of his own depravity, 

Softened bis heart to a sense 

Of the various wants of his 

Fellow creatures. 

Reader, 

Inquire no further, 

The Lord have mercy on his soul and thine. 

Apprehensive of the too partial regard of his 
friends, and esteeming plain truth above the proudest 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 253 

trophies of monumental flattery, at the age of fifty 
he caused this plate and inscription to be made. He 
died Sept. 5, 1786, aged 74. 



August 13. 

Psalm lxxxii. 3. Defend the poor and fatherless, do justice 
to the afflicted and needy. 

John Dunning, Lord Ashburton, died, 
1783. He was one of the most distinguished pleaders 
at the English bar. While in practice as a barrister, 
he very frequently pleaded the causes of the poor 
and oppressed without fee or reward; nor was he 
ever known to shew less ardour when he was retained 
for small fees than when his clients were more wealthy 
and liberal. How necessary is the principle of in- 
tegrity, especially in those who have to plead the 
cause of the oppressed. Those who sit on the seats 
of jus. ice ought to be men fearing God ; for without 
this, says Dr. Bates, judges will not do their duty 
evenly aiid courageously. Human respects will tempt 
them to bend the rule to the obliquity of their minds 
and desires. When they are influenced by the fear 
or favour of men, they will part with justice, and 
conscience, and true honour, and their souls. And 
how often does the weight of gold turn the scales in 
judgment, and preponderate the reason of the cause 
with those who are most solemnly obliged to universal 
rectitude in the discharge of their office. Judges 
shoui i so impartially, and with that noble resolution, 
perform their duty, as to discourage all attempts to 
pervert them. Zeuxes having painted a boy carrying 
some grapes, so coloured according to nature, that 
the birds pecked at them. An observer said, the 
birds discredited the picture; for if the boy had 
been drawn with equal life, they had not been so 



254 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

bold as to fly at the grapes ; a sign they fancied the 
grapes true and the boy painted. Thus whoever 
tempts those who sit in judicature to unworthy things 
disgraces their dignity, and constructively declares 
that he esteems them to have an appearance of virtue 
without sincere zeal for it. And how many who 
are pleaders, by fallacious colours commend a bad 
cause, and discredit a good, and thereby expose 
themselves to that terrible denunciation, Woe be to 
them that call good evil, and evil good. A degene- 
rate mind, and mercenary tongue, will plead any 
cause to obtain the ends of avarice and ambition ; as 
if, according to what an Italian lawyer said of him- 
self, they were the advocates of their clients, and 
not of justice." 



August 14. 

2 Tim, iv. IS. Bring with thee the books. 

The first printed book appeared, 1457. Books 
were originally made in the form of blocks and 
tables ; but as flexible matter came to be written on, 
it was found more convenient to make books in the 
form of rolls. These were composed of several sheets 
fastened to each other and roiled upon a stick, the 
whole making a kind of column or cylinder. 

The first printed book on record is the Book of 
Psalms by Faust and Schoeffer his son in law, which 
was published at the time here annexed. Several 
works were printed many years before, but as the in- 
ventors wish d to keep the secret to themselves, they 
sold their first printed works as manuscripts. This 
gave rise to an adventure that brought calamity on 
Faust. He began, in 1450, an edition of the Bible, 
which was finished in 1460, He carried several 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 255 

printed copies of it to Paris, and offering them for 
sale as manuscripts, he had the misfortune to be 
thrown into prison on the suspicion that he dealt 
with the devil ; for the French could not otherwise 
conceive how so many books should so exactly agree 
in every letter and point, unless the Devil (whom in 
those days of darkness was thought to be always 
ready at every person's elbow, to appear when called 
to offer his services) had lent him assistance. Faust, 
in order to prove that he was not concerned with the 
infernal powers, and to obtain his liberty, was obliged 
to disclose his secret, and inform the ministers how 
the work had been done. It is upon this adventure 
that are founded the many ludicrous dialogues which 
Faust, under the name of Dr. Faustus is said to have 
had with the Devil. 

" The multitude of books/' says one, has been 
long complained of; the complaint is as old as 
Solomon who lived three thousand years ago ; they 
are grown too numerous, not only to procure and 
read, but to see, to learn the names of, or even 
to number.— England has more to fear on this 
score than other countries ; since, besides our own 
produce, we have for some years past drained 
our neighbours. However, as Bishop Caramel's 
scheme miscarried, which was to write about a 
hundred volumes in folio, and then prevail on the 
civil and military powers to oblige all their subjects 
to read them, we need not much regret the multi- 
tude of books. As knowledge, however, is naturally 
advantageous, and as every man ought to be in the 
way of information, even a superfluity of books is 
not without its use, since hereby they are brought to 
obtrude themselves on us, and engage us when we 
had the least design. 

" This advantage, an antient father observes, we 
owe to the multiplicity of books on the same sub" 
ject, that one falls in the way of one man, and 



256 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 



another best suits the level or the apprehensions of 
another. Every thing that is written (says he) does 
not come into the hands of all persons; perhaps 
some may meet with my books, who may hear 
nothing of others which have, treated better of the 
same subjects. It is~ of service, therefore, that the 
questions be handled by several persons, and after 
different methods, though all on the same prin- 
ciples, that the explications of difficulties and argu- 
ments for the truth may come to the knowledge of 
every one by one way or other. And, that the 
multitude is the only security against the total less 
or destruction of books ; it is this that has preserved 
them against the injuries of time, the rage of 
tyrants, the zeal of persecutors, and the ravages 
of barbarians ; and handed them down, through 
long intervals of darkness and ignorance, safe to 
our days." 

We have great reason to rejoice in the increase 
of religious books, especially the Bible. The press 
has never been so much employed in the cause of 
religion as in the present day. Is it not a happy 
sign of the approach of that delightful period, when 
" many shall run to and fro, and knowledge be 
increased V 



„f 



August 15. 

John xv. 2. Every^branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it 
that it may bring forth more fruit. 

The Rev. Richard Cec*l died, 1810. He 
was an ingenious and useful preacher; but greatly 
afflicted before he died. He was well convinced; 
however that the most severe dispensations of provi- 
dence are intended to produce the most salutary 
effects. Affliction and pain cannot indeed be we!- 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 257 

come to any; but when sanctified, it becomes a 
blessing. To lose an affliction, therefore, some have 
thought was to lose a mercy. Luther did well to 
call affliction the theology of Christians. 

It is said of Mr. Cecil, that while he was at 
college, he had many deep and secret conflicts of 
mind with which he was exercised ; added to which, 
he had to meet many insults which profligate men 
offer to piety. Under these impressions, he was 
one day walking in the Physic Gardens, where he 
observed a very fine pomegranate tree, cut almost 
through the stem, near the root. On asking the 
gardener the reason of this, " Sir," said he, " this 
tree used to shoot so strong, that it bore nothing 
but leaves. I was therefore obliged to cut it in this 
manner ; and when it was almost cut through, then 
it began to bear plenty of fruit." The gardener's 
explanation of this act conveyed a striking illustra- 
tion to Mr. Cecil's mind, and he went back to his 
room comforted, and was instructed by this image. 
Thus must the Christian be exposed to suffering, 
and be, as it were, cut at the root by the pruning 
knife of affliction; but it shall ultimately lead to 
his good. Reader, are you now suffering severely ; 
wait a little, and you shall reap the benefit. For 
whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourge th 
every son whom he receiveth. " I have learnt 
more," said this good man, " in these circumstances, 
than from all the books I ever read." The follow- 
ing will shew us how he conducted himself as to 
his family. " I imprinted," says Mr. Cecil, " on 
my daughter the idea of faith at a very early age. 
She was playing one day with a few beads, which 
seemed to delight her wonderfully. Her whole 
soul was absorbed in the beads. I said, My dear 
you have some pretty beads there. " Yes, Papa." 
And you seem to be vastly pleased with thein« 
*' Yes, Papa." Well now, throw them behind ths 



258 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 






fire. The tears started into her eyes. She looked 
earnestly at roe, as though she ought to have a 
reason for such a cruel sacrifice. Well, my dear, 
do as you please : but you know I never told 
you to do any thing which I did not think would 
be good for you. She looked at me a few moments 
longer, and then summoning up all her fortitude, 
her breast heaving with the effort, she dashed 
them into the fire. Well, said I, there let them 
lie ; you shall hear more about them another time, 
but say no more about them now. Some days 
after, I brought her a box full of larger beads 
and toys of the same kind. When I returned 
home, 1 opened the treasure, and set it before 
her : she burst into tears with extacy. Those, my 
child, said I, are yours, because you believed me> 
when I told you it would be better for you to 
throw those two or three paltry beads behind the 
fire. Now that has brought you this treasure. 
But now, my dear, remember as long as you live 
what faith is. I did all this to teach you the 
meaning of faith. You threw your beads away 
when I bid you, because you had faith in me, 
that I never advised you but for your good. Put 
the same confidence in God. Believe every thing 
that he says in his word. Whether you under- 
stand it or not, have faith hi Him that he means 
you good." 

His faithfulness to others is evinced by the follow- 
ing testimony. " I had been known/' says .one, 
a to Mr. Cecil as an occasional hearer at St. John's, 
and by my soliciting his advice at my commencing 
master of a family ; but some years had passed 
since I had enjoyed the pleasure of speaking to 
him, when he called at my house, on horseback 
(being then unable to walk) and desired to speak 
with me. After the usual salutations, he addressed 
me thus : " I understand you are very dangerously 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 250 

situated." He then paused. I replied that I was 
not aware of it. He answered, " I thought it was 
probable you were not; and therefore I called on 
you : I hear you are getting rich ; take care, for it 
is the road by which the devil leads thousands to 
destruction !" This^was spoken with such solemnity 
and earnestness, that the impression will ever remain 
on my memory/' 

We must not imagine, however, that Mr. Cecil 
was such a recluse as to think men ought to abandon 
the world altogether. " I once went to a friend/' 
says he, " for the express purpose of calling him 
out into the world. I said to him, It is your 
duty to accept the loan of ten thousand pounds, 
and to put yourself forward into an ampler sphere. 
But he was a rare character, and his case was rare. 
His employers had said, " We are ashamed you 
should remain so long a servant in our house, 
with the whole weight of affairs on you. We wish 
you to enter as a principal with us, and will advance 
you ten thousand pounds. It is the custom of the 
city, it is your due, we are dissatisfied to see you 
in your present sphere." I assured him that it 
appeared to me to be his duty to accede to the 
proposal. But I did not prevail. He said, " Sir, 
1 have often heard from you, that it is no easy 
thing to get to heaven. I have often heard from 
you that it is no easy thing to master the world. I 
have every thing I wish. More would encumber 
me, increase my difficulties, and endanger me." 
What an admirable instance of contentment was 
this ! How few to be found of such a spirit. Happi- 
ness truly doth not consist in the abundance of what 
a man possesses ! 



260 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 



August 16. 

I Sam. xii. 3. Of whose hand have I received any bribe to 
blind mine eyes therewith. 

Mr. Andrew Marvel died, 1678, aged 57. 
He made himself very obnoxious to the government 
by his actions and writings ; notwithstanding which, 
King Charles II. took great delight in his conversa- 
tion, and tried all means to win him over to his side, 
but in vain, nothing being ever able to shake his 
resolution. There were many instances of his firm- 
ness in resisting the offers of the court; but he was 
proof against all temptations. The king having 
one night entertained him, sent the Lord Treasurer 
the next morning to find out his lodgings, which 
were then up two pair of stairs in one of the little 
courts in the Strand. He was busy writing, when 
the Treasurer opened the door abruptly upon him. 
Surprised at the sight of so unexpected a visitor, 
Mr. Marvel told his Lordship that he believed he 
had mistaken his way. Lord Danby replied, " No : 
now I have found Mr. Marvel;" telling him he 
came from his Majesty, to know what he could 
do to serve him. Coming to a serious explanation, 
he told the Lord Treasurer that he knew the nature 
of courts well ; that whoever is distinguished by a 
prince's favour, is certainly expected to vote in his 
interest. Lord Danby told him that his Majesty 
had only a just sense of his merits, in regard to 
which he only desired to know if there was any 
place at court he could be pleased with. These 
offers, though urged with the greatest earnestness, 
had no effect upon him. He told the Lord Trea- 
surer that he could not aecept of them with honour, 
for he must either be ungrateful to the king in 
voting against him ; or false to his country in 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 2G1 

giving in to the measures of the court. The only 
favour, therefore, he had to request of his Majesty 
was, that he would esteem him as dutiful a subject 
as any he had, and more in his proper interest by 
refusing his offers, than if he had embraced them. 
Lord Danby finding no arguments could prevail, 
told him, that the king had ordered a thousand 
pounds for him, which he hoped he would receive, 
till he could think what farther to ask of his Ma- 
jesty. The last offer was rejected with the same 
steadfastness of mind as the first ; though as soon as 
the Lord Treasurer was gone, he was forced to 
borrow a guinea of a friend. 

We shall here subjoin a few examples of the same 
kind. 

Curius Dentatus Marcus Annius was a Roman 
celebrated for his fortitude and frugality. He was 
three times consul, and was honoured with a tri- 
umph. He obtained decisive victories over the Sam- 
nites, the Sabines, and the Lucanians, and defeated 
Pyrrhus near Tarentum. The ambassadors of the 
Samnites visited his cottage, while he was boiling 
some vegetables in an earthen pot, and they at- 
tempted to bribe him by the offer of large presents. 
He refused their offers with contempt, and said, " I 
prefer my earthen pots to all your vessels of gold 
and silver, and it is my wish to command those who 
are in possession of money, while I am deprived of 
it, and live in poverty/' 

A Roman was appointed judge between his sob 
and the province of Macedonia. When all the 
parties had been heard, the father said, " It is evi- 
dent that my son has suffered himself to be bribed* 
therefore I deem him unworthy of the republic and 
t>f my house, and I order him to depart from my 
presence." 

Xenocrates the philosopher stood firm against 
temptations to bribery. Philip of Macedon at- 



202 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 



tempted to gain his confidence with money, but 
with no success. Alexander in this imitated his 
father, and sent some of his friends with fifty talents 
for the philosopher. They were introduced and 
supped with Xenocrates. The repast was small^ 
frugal, and elegant without ostentation. On the 
morrow, the officers of Alexander wished to pay 
down the fifty talents; but the philosopher asked 
them, whether they had not perceived from the 
entertainment of the preceding day that he was 
not in want of money. " Tell your master," said he* 
" to keep his money, he has more people to maintain 
than I have." 

Phocion the Athenian was celebrated for his 
virtues, private as well as public. Philip, as well 
as his son Alexander, attempted to bribe him, but 
to no purpose. Antipater, who succeeded in the 
government of Macedonia after the death of Alex^ 
ander, also attempted to corrupt him, but with the 
same success as his royal predecessor, and when a 
friend had observed to Phocion, that he could so 
refuse the generous offers of his patrons, yet he 
should consider the good of his children, and accept 
them for their sake, Phocion calmly replied, that if 
his children were like him, they could maintain 
themselves as well as their father had done, but if 
they behaved otherwise, he declared that he was un- 
willing to leave them any thing, which might either 
supply their extravagancies or encourage their de- 
baucheries, 






August 17. 

Isa. xix. 4. And a fierce king shall rule over theai. 

Frederic the Great, King of Prussia, died ? 
1786, The lives of very few individuals, either of 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 263 

Ancient or modern times, have been equally re- 
markable for a quick succession of striking inci- 
dents, and few have shone in so many different 
characters. His reign was distinguished by brilliant 
exploits, by the formidable enemies whom he had 
to combat, the variety of battles in which he engaged 
in person, and by the great changes that he effected. 
Frederic, it is said, was distinguished for his se- 
verity, indifference, and ingratitude. In matters of 
domestic legislation he was more arbitrary than just ; 
of which we have a notable example in the famous 
case of Arnold the miller. The man had refused to 
pay the rent of the mill he possessed, on the pre* 
tence that the stream which turned it had been 
diverted into a fish-pond. This was evidently a 
frivolous excuse, because the water which ran into 
the pond also ran out of it into the same channel as 
before, so that nothing could be lost except what 
evaporated from the surface of the fish-pond. The 
judges therefore gave sentence against the miller; 
but the king not only reversed their sentence, but 
disgraced them. For this he was celebrated in all 
the newspapers in Europe ; and yet he was in the 
wrong, and afterwards even acknowledged himself 
to have been so : but, notwithstanding he knew his 
error, he not only made no reparation to the parties 
he had injured, but 'suffered them to lie in prison at 
Spandau all his- life-time, so that they were not 
Released till the commencement of the present reign,, 
He entertained certain and almost unaccountable 
prejudices against certain places and persons, which 
neither conduct nor merit could eradicate. One of 
these unfortunate places was Westphalia, on which 
he never conferred any bounty: and one day a 
native of that country, a man of great merit, being 
proposed to him for a place, he refused, saying, 
a He is a Westphalian ; he is good for nothing." 
Voltaire accuses him of ingratitude to the Count 



264 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

de Seckeiidorf ; who saved his life ; and against 
whom he afterwards conceived the most implacable 
hatred. His indifference towards those who offered 
him the most essential service was evident ; when a 
robust butcher prevented him from falling, horse 
and all, over a precipice, where both would have 
undoubtedly been lulled, the king, insensible of the 
assistance that had been afforded him, turned about, 
and saying, Thank you friend, rode off, without 
even inquiring farther about the person who had 
just preserved him from destruction. 






August 18. 

Matt. x. 28. Fear not them— which are not able to kill 
the soul. 

Dr. Beattie died at Aberdeen, aged 67. He 
was an ingenious poet, and a great adversary to the 
system of materialism. " The existence of our own 
mind (he observes) as something different and dis- 
tinct from the body, is universally acknowledged. I 
say universally ; having never heard of any nation 
of men upon earth, who did not in their conversation 
and behaviour show by the plainest signs, that^they 
made this distinction. Nay, so strongly are mankind 
impressed with it, that the rudest barbarians, by 
their incantations, their funeral solemnities, their 
traditions concerning invisible beings, and their 
hopes of a future state, seem to declare that to the 
existence of the soul, the body is not in their opi- 
nion necessary. All philosophers, a few Epicureans 
and Pyrdionists excepted, have acknowledged the 
existence of tne soul as one of the first and most 
unexceptionable principles of human science. Now, 
whence could a notion so universal arise ] Let us 
examine our own minds, and we shall find that it 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 266 

could arise from nothing but consciousness, a certain 
irresistible persuasion, that we have a soul distinct 
from the body. The evidence of this notion is in- 
stinctive ; it is the evidence of internal sense. 
Reasoning can neither prove nor disprove it. Des 
Cartes, and his disciple Malebranche, acknowledge, 
that the existence of the human soul must be believed 
by ali men, even by those who can bring themselves 
to doubt of every thiug else. 

" It has been asked, whether a continued con- 
sciousness of our being always the same, does not 
constitute our sameness or identity ] * No more, I 
should answer, than our perception of truth, light or 
cold, is the efficient cause of truth, light or cold. 
Our identity is perceived by consciousness; but 
consciousness is as different from identity as the 
understanding is different from truth, as past events 
are different from memory, as colours from the power 
of seeing. Consciousness of identity is so far from 
constituting identity, that it presupposes it. An 
animal might continue the same being, and yet not 
be conscious of identity ; which is probably the case 
with many of the brute creation ; nay, which is often 
the case with man himself. When we sleep without 
dreaming, or fall into a fainting fit, or rave in a 
fever, and often too in our ordinary dreams, we lose 
all sense of our identity, and yet never conceive 
that our identity has suffered any interruption or 
change: the moment we awake or recover, we are 
conscious that we are the same individual beings we 
were before. 

" The following case which M. Crozaz gave in to 
the Academy of Sciences, is the most extraordinary 
instance of interrupted consciousness I have ever 
heard of. A nobleman of Lausanne, as he was 
giving orders to a servant, suddenly lost his speech 
and all his senses. Different remedies were tried, 
without effect for six months, during all which time 
N 



%m PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR* 

he appeared to be in a deep sleep or deliquium, witti 
various symptoms at different periods, which are 
particularly specified in the narrative. At last, after 
some -chirnrgical operations, at the end of six months, 
his speech and senses were suddenly restored. When 
he recovered, the servant to whom he had been 
giving orders when he was first seized with the dis- 
temper, happening to be in the room, he asked 
whether he had executed his commission ; not being 
sensible, it seems, that any interval of time, except a 
very short one, had elapsed, during his illness. He 
lived ten years after, and died of another disease. 
I mention this chiefly with a view to the reader's 
amusement : he may consider the evidence, and be- 
lieve or disbelieve as he pleases. But that con- 
sciousness may be interrupted by a total deliquium, 
without any change in our notions of our identity, 
I know by my own experience. I am therefore 
fully persuaded that the identity of this substance 
which I call my soul, may continue even when I am 
unconscious of it : and if for a shorter space, why 
not for a longer V 

The Doctor's conclusion of his Essay on Truth is 
truly noble and animated. 

" For my own part," says he, " though I have 
always been, and shall always be, happy in applaud- 
ing excellence wherever I find it; yet neither the 
pomp of wealth, nor the dignity of office, neither the 
frown of the great, nor the sneer of the fashionable, 
neither the sciolists of clamour, nor the profligate's 
resentment, shall ever soothe or frighten me into an 
admiration, real or pretended, of impious tenets, 
sophistical reasoning* or that paltry metaphysic with 
which literature has been so disgraced and pestered 
of late years. I am not so much addicted to con- 
troversy, as even to enter into any, but what I judge 
to be of very great importance ; and into such con- 
troversy I cannot, I will not enter with coidnes* 






PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 26? 

and unconcern. If I should, I might please a party, 
but I must offend the public ; I might escape the 
censure of those whose praise I would not value, 
but I should justly forfeit the esteem of good men, 
and incur the disapprobation of my own conscience*" 



August 19. 

James i. 6. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. 

Augustus Cjesar died, A. D. 14. Dr. Bates, 
in speaking of the divine clemency, alludes to this 
prince. Our prayers, he observes, must be addressed 
with an humble trust on the mercies of God, that 
incline him to relieve and sustain the afflicted. Thus 
St. James directs the afflicted to ask in faith, no- 
thing wavering. We read in the scripture of his 
bowels, the light of his countenance, his melting 
eye, the soft, serene, compassionate expressions of 
Jiis most gracious nature towards his suffering people. 
He doth not esteem himself more honoured with the 
glorious titles of our Creator and King, than with 
the amiable, endearing name of our Father; and 
with a confidence becoming that relation, we are 
directed by his divine Son to make our request to 
him. It is recorded of Augustus the Emperor, 
that when one presented a petition to him in a 
timorous and shy manner, that generous prince, 
whose humanity was equal to his dignity, was moved 
with displeasure, as if it had been a tacit reproach 
that he was of an untractable fierce nature. Thus 
it is a disparagement of God's benignity and cle- 
mency, when we pray to him in a diffident manner* 
He is more pleased in doing of us good, than we can 
be in receiving it. Indeed, if the promises of God 
did not encourage our hopes, we should not presume 
N 2 



263 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

so much on his affection, as to lay the burdens of 
our cares and sorrows on his arms ; but heaven is 
not fuller of stars, to enlighten the darkness of the 
night, than the scripture is of precious promises for 
the refreshing the disconsolate/' 

A distressing event happened this day, 1782. 
The Royal George of 100 guns sunk off Spithead ; 
when Admiral Kempenfelt, 400 seamen, and 200 
women all perished. 



August 20. 

Luke xiv. 26. If any man come to me, and hate not his 
father and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, 
and sisters 5 yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my 
disciple. 

The famous De Witt and his brother were torn 
in pieces at the Hague by a Dutch mob, 1672. De 
Witt was the zealous patron of the glory of his native 
country; one of the greatest geniuses of his time, 
and an able politician in war and peace. When he 
was at the head of the government, he differed no- 
thing in his manner of living from an ordinary 
citizen. He refused a gift of £10,000 from the 
states general, because he said it was a bad piece- 
dent. He thought indeed every sacrifice should be 
made in the execution of his duty, and therefore it is 
said of him that he took care of his health, but not of 
his life ; he was not afraid of danger, when at his 
post ; so Christians must act according to duty, and 
not spare their lives if called to it, for the honour &f 
God and the good of his cause 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 269 



August 21. 

Jastes iv, H. Speak not evil one of another. 
Proverbs x. 19, In the multitude of words there wameth 
not sin. 

Lady Mary Wortley Montague died, 
1762. She was at one period of her life the friend 
of Pope, and at another his enemy. While they 
were at enmity with each other, she enpbraced every 
opportunity of defaming the poet, who well knew 
how to take revenge, Both of them carried their 
animosity to so great a height, that they became the 
subject of public conversation. How much is this 
evil to be deplored ; rational creatures, so called, 
sacrificing their reason to their passions ; biting, as 
the apostle says, and devouring one another. The 
spirit of slander and exaggeration awfully prevail in 
the world. " Soon after being in the company of 

Mr. (says one) I found he spoke with much 

fluency and propriety, and particularly about re- 
ligion. My attention was excited by his conversa- 
tion ; for he appeared to have more enlarged views 
of men and things than most I had met with. He 
spoke in terms so high of some particular characters, 
as induced me to think that their value was not 
sufficiently known. But soon after I was rather 
confounded by a sentiment he dropped concerning 
another character, which was as remarkable for its 
detraction as the other expressions were for their 
approbation. While I remained with him, he pur- 
sued the same method in his discourse, and I saw 
plainly he fell into the sin of exaggeration ; for 
while he could scarcely find words to express his 
encomiums on some, he again appeared at a loss to 
represent in a manner sufficiently horrid the faults 
of others." How many are guilty of the same sin. 
Let us set a seal on our lips ; and when we do con~ 
N 3 



270 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

verse, let it be with caution, prudence, humility, and 
charity ; lest while we condemn others, we ourselves 
should be condemned. 



August 22. 

John ix. 35~38. Dost thou believe on the Son of God? And 
he said, Lord I believe : and he worshipped him. 

Lord Lyttleton died, 1773, a firm believer 
in the Christian religion. Genuine faith in Christ 
is essential to our happiness in the present state, 
and in that which is to come. To give credit to 
his testimony, imbibe his spirit, rely on his righte- 
ousness, and obey his commands; these form the 
christian character. How many, however, call them- 
selves Christians, and yet are strangers to* these 
principles ; and alas ! how many are disposed to 
reject the whole system of Christianity, although 
they have never closely examined its evidences. Let 
not, however, the humble inquirer despond; the 
enemies to Christianity may endeavour to throw ob- 
jections in the way; but light shall increase; and 
truth shall be found by all who sincerely seek her. 
4t When I first set out in the world (said Lord 
Lvttleton to his physician in his last illness) I had 
friends who endeavoured to stagger my belief in the 
Christian religion, but I kept my mind open to con- 
viction. The evidences and doctrines of Christianity 
studied with attention, made me a most firm and 
persuaded believer of the christian religion. I have 
made it the rule of my life, and it is the ground of 
my future hope." His Lordship's Treatise on the 
Conversion of the Apostle Paul is unanswerable. 

Athenagoras, a famous Athenian philosopher, had 
entertained so unfavourable an opinion of the chris- 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 271 

sian religion, that he was determined to write against 
it ; but upon an intimate inquiry into the facts on 
which it was supported, in the course of his collect- 
ing materials for his intended publication, he was 
convinced by the blaze of evidence in its favour, 
and turned his designed invective into an elaborate 
apology, which is still in being. Even the most 
profligate infidels have been brought at last to own 
the truth of Christianity. What a confession is that 
of Lord Rochester. " If God," says he, " should 
spare me a little longer time here, I hope to bring 
glory B to his name, proportionably to the dishonour I 
have done to him in my whole past life, and particu- 
larly by my endeavours to convince others, and to 
assure them of the danger of their condition, if they 
continued impenitent, and to tell how graciously 
God hath dealt with me." 



August 23. 

I Tim. iv. 7, 13, 15. Exercise thyself unto godliness; give 
attendance to reading. Meditate upon these things ; give 
thyself wholly to them. 

Pliny the eider perished* A. D. 79. Diligence 
in the pursuit of objects which are valuable is highly 
commendable. Time is passing on with rapidity; 
and every opportunity of obtaining or communicating 
good should be earnestly embraced. And whether 
we are public characters or private Christians, our 
whole minds should be devoted to divine things. 
Nay, they should not be the object of our remem- 
brance and reflection merely, but of constant study. 
Their importance and necessity demand the closest 
application. It is said of Pliny the elder, that every 
moment of time was precious to him. At his meals, 
one of his servants read to him books, valuable for 
N 4 



272 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 






their information, and from them he immediately 
made copious extracts. Even while he dressed him- 
self after bathing, his attention was called away from 
surrounding objects, and he was either employed in 
listening to another, or in dictating himself. Nothing 
appeared to him too laborious, no undertaking too 
troublesome. He deemed every moment lost which 
was not devoted to study. Thus the minister, the 
student, the Christian, should be diligent, working 
while it is day; knowing that the night will soon 
come when no man can work. 

Pliny's death was as follows: he was very de- 
sirous of observing the effects of the volcanic erup- 
tion of Vesuvius ; but staying too long, he fell down 
suffocated by the thick vapours that surrounded him, 
and the insufferable stench of sulphurous matter. 



August 24. 

John xv. 20. If they have persecuted me, they will also 
persecute you. 

There are many days in the year which the Chris- 
tian can recollect with sensations of peculiar delight, 
but this brings to his remembrance events of the 
most melancholy kind ; although it illustrates and 
confirms the truth of the above-mentioned text. On 
the 24th of August, 1572, the massacre of the Pro- 
testants in Paris began, in which it is said no less 
than seveuty thousand were put to death. On the 
same day, 1662, two thousand ministers were ejected 
from the Church of England for nonconformity. See 
Theol. Diet, article Persecution. How far the 
awful events which have taken place since in Fiance, 
as well as the dreadful fire and plague in London, 
may be considered as instances of retributive justice, 
must be left to the reader to judge for himself. 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 273 

Certain it is, however, that God will avenge the blood 
of his saints; for he that toucheth them, toucheth 
the apple of his eye. 

On this day, also, 1683, the learned Dr. John 
Owen died. He was one of the greatest divines 
of his day; and has left numerous works as proofs 
of his extraordinary abilities, piety, and labour; 
and yet there was a time when this great man was 
a subject of great doubts and fears. Going, how- 
ever, to London, where he was a perfect stranger, he 
thought he would embrace the opportunity of hear- 
ing the famous Dr. Calamy. After waiting a long 
time, a country minister (of whom he never could 
hear any thing more) came into the pulpit, and 
preached from Matt. viii. 26. Under this discourse, 
his doubts were removed ; and the sermon, it is said, 
laid the foundation of that solid peace and comfort 
which he afterwards enjoyed as long as he lived. 
Thus Jehovah works by whom he will. While he 
blesses the ministration of stated pastors, he some- 
limes is pleased to make the word eminently useful 
by the voice of a stranger. But to him alone let us 
| ;ve all the praise. 



August 25. 

Prov. xvi. T. When a man's ways please Ike Lord, he 
maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him. 

Dr. Samuel Stennet died, 1795. He was an 
excellent man, a good preacher, and a most useful 
writer. The following account of his great grand- 
father, the Rev. Joseph Stennet, will illustrate the 
above passage. " He was a faithful and laborious 
minister ; but his dissent from the established church 
N 5 



274 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

exposed him to a considerable share of persecution* 
Yet the Lord whom he served, and who knows how 
to deliver the godly out of temptation, was pleased 
to afford him deliverance in the following extraordi- 
nary manner. 

He dwelt in the castle of Waliingford, where no 
warrant but that of the Lord Chief Justice could 
reach him ; and the house was so situated, that re- 
ligious assemblies could meet there for worship with- 
out any danger of legal conviction, unless informers 
were admitted, which care was taken to prevent. A 
justice of peace in the neighbourhood, highly in- 
censed at this, resolved, together with a clergyman, 
upon a conviction of the offence, by suborning false 
witnesses. Several persons were accordingly hired 
to swear that they had heard prayer and preaching 
there, though they had never been present. Mr. 
Stennet finding an indictment laid against him on 
the Conventicle Act, founded on the oath of several 
witnesses, and being well assured that nothing but 
perjury could support it, was resolved to traverse it ; 
and accordingly did so. The assizes were held at 
Newbury ; and when the time approached, his ad- 
versaries greatly triumphed in their expected suc- 
cess. But the scene was suddenly changed. News 
came to the justice, that his son at Oxford was gone 
off with a player; this prevented his attendance. 
The clergyman, who was determined to be present, 
and boasted of the service which would be done to 
the church by the prosecution, was removed by 
sudden death. One of the witnesses, who lived at 
Cromash, was prevented by a violent disease, of 
which he afterwards died. Another of them fell 
down and broke his leg, and so was hindered. In 
short, of seven or eight persons who were engaged in 
this design, there was but one left who was capable 
of appearing. He was a gardener who had been 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 275 

frequently employed by Mr. Stennet at day-labour, 
who had never been admitted into the meeting : this 
man was expected to be a very material evidence, 
and was kept in liquor several days for that purpose. 
But coming to his reason just as the assizes drew 
near, he went about the town exclaiming against 
himself for his ingratitude and perjury, aud abso- 
lutely refused to go. So that when Mr. Stennet 
came to Newbury, neither prosecutor nor witnesses 
appearing against him, he was of course discharged/' 
Thus we see that it is a dangerous thing to obstruct 
the free course of the gospel and oppose its ministers. 
And let us remember, that all our enemies are in his 
hand ; and that he will take care of his own cause, 
and of all them who trust in him. 



August 26. 

Ezek. vi. 13. Then shall ye know that I am the Lord, when 
their slain men shall be among their idols round about their 
altars, upon every high hill in ail the tops of the mountains, 
and under every green tree, and under every thick oak the 
place where they did offer sweet savour to all their idols. 

Julius Caesar landed near Dover with an in- 
tention to subdue Britain, A. D. 55. How or when 
England was first peopled we know not, but it is 
likely that we owe our origin to the prolific sons of 
Japheth, who, after the destruction of the old world, 
inhabited the continental part of Europe, and so 
might easily have passed from the Gallic or Belgic 
shore to this country. However this is certain, that, 
in common with all the Gentile world besides, for 
time immemorial, thick darkness had covered the 
land. The religion of our rude forefathers was 
called Druidism. — Druid being the title of their 

n a 



'27(5 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

priests ; a particular account of which may be seen 
in Ctesar's Commentaries, lib. 6. The custom of 
those idolaters mentioned in the above scripture par- 
ticularly obtained here. According to the abomina- 
tion of Moloch, they sacrificed human victims to 
appease their gods. Julius Caesar, under the do- 
minion of his prevailing passion, a desire of false 
glory, invaded this country, and subjugated a part 
of its inhabitants. Hereby, though he knew it not, 
he made way for the establishment of an empire 
which has seen the glory of Rome set in eternal 
night ; and which, according to the appointment of 
Him who cannot err, shall survive all the dominions 
of the world. 



August 27. 

James v. 3. Your gold and silver is cankered, and the rust 
of them shall be a witness against you. 

It is usual, as one observes, in Scripture, to ascribe 
a testimony to things inanimate against the unthank- 
ful and wicked. " Shake off the dust of your feet/' 
said the Saviour, " for a testimony against them/' 
" The stone," says the prophet, " shall cry out of 
the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall 
answer it." How many witnesses will rise up in the 
last day, not only to condemn the hypocrite, the 
licentious, the covetous, but the apostate. In primi- 
tive times, when grown persons were baptized, it 
was customary for them to leave a white garment in 
the vestry of the church for a testimony and witness ; 
wherefore when one Elpidophorus had revolted from 
the faith, the deacon of the church came and said to 
him, " O Elpidophorus, I will keep this garment as a 
monument against thee to all eternity." May not 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 27? 

ministers say the same as to tlie profession and written 
experience of too many, who after joining their 
churches, have gone back again into the world, and 
become awful apostates^ 



August 28. 

1 Thess. v. 22. Abstain from all appearance of evil. 

1 Cor. xv. 33. Evil communications corrupt good manners. 

Saint Augustine, an illustrious Father of the 
church, died, 430'. He was born at Tagaste on the 
13th of November, 354, and his mother Monica, a 
woman of great virtue, instructed him in the princi- 
ples of the christian religion. He completed his 
education at Carthage, where he afterwards taught 
rhetoric with great applause, as he did subsequently 
at Rome and Milan in Italy. He returned to Africa 
in 388, and with eleven other persons adopted the 
monastic way of life in the neighbourhood of Hippo, 
exercising themselves, it is said, in fasting, prayer, 
study, and meditation, day and night, for the space 
of three years. Hence sprung up the Augustine 
friars, being the first order of mendicants. Augus- 
tine was afterwards ordained bishop of Hippo, by 
Megalus, bishop of Calama, then primate of Nu- 
midia. 

The following account of Alypius, a friend of 
St. Augustine will shew the necessity of observing 
the above-mentioned scriptures. Alypius was ac- 
customed to hold in the utmost horror and detesta- 
tion the gladiatorial combats which were exhibited in 
the age in which he lived. Being invited one day by 
his companions to be a spectator of those inhuman 
sports, he refused to go. They however insisted on 
liis accompanying them, and drew him along against 



I 
273 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

his will. When they had all taken their seats, the 
games commenced. Alypius shut his eyes, that 
objects so abominable might not pollute his mind, 
" Would to God, v said Augustine, 4f he had also 
stopped his ears." For having heard a great cry, he 
suffered himself to be conquered by his curiosity, 
and opened his eyes to see what it was, imagining 
that he still retained the power of shutting them. 
One of the eombntb wounded. No sooner 

did he behold the purple stream issuing from the 
body of the unhappy wrench, than instead of turning 
away his eyes, they were arrested on the object, and 
became intoxicated with tnose brutal combats. He 
was no longer the same man ; he by degrees imbibed 
the sentiments of the multitude around him ; joined 
in their shouts and exclamations, and carried away 
from the amphitheatre a violent passion for returning, 
and not only did he go the second time with those 
who had ensnared him, but he himself enticed others. 
Yet this man began at first with an abhorrence of 
such criminal amusements, and resolved to take no 
part in them : but sad experience taught him, that 
the best resolutions are insufficient to withstand so 
great temptations, and that the only way to escape 
danger is to keep at a distance from it. Let }oung 
people learn by this example to distrust their own 
courage and resolution, and to shun all those enter- 
tainments and diversions which carry away the heart 
from God ; and which may prove as injurious to 
them as these did to Alypius, 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 279 



August 29. 

Matt. xiv. 6 — 11. But when Herod's birth-day was kept, 
the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased 
Herod. Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her 
whatsoever sh* would ask. And being before instructed 
of her mother, said, Give me here John Baptist's head in 
a charger. And the king was sorry : nevertheless, for 
the oath's sake, and them which sat at meat, he com- 
manded it to be given her* And his head was brought 
in a charger, and given to the damsel : and she brought 
it to her mother. 

This took place this day about the year 32. We 
are informed that it was customary with the princes 
in those eastern parts of the world to require the 
heads of those they ordered to be executed to be 
brought to them, that they might be assured of their 
death. The grand Seignior does it to this day. 
Jerome tells us that Herodias treated the Baptist's 
head in a very disdainful manner, pulling out the 
tongue, which she imagined had injured her, and 
piercing it with a needle. 

When the head of Cicero was brought to Fulvia, 
wife of Mark Anthony, she took it in her lap, spit 
upon it and thrust repeatedly a silver bodkin through 
the tongue. 

Dr. Whitby, after many others, observes that Pro- 
vidence interested itself very remarkably in the re- 
venge of this murder on all concerned. Herod's 
army was defeated in a war occasioned by his marry- 
ing Herodias; which many Jews thought a judgment 
sent upon him for the death of John. Both he and 
Herodias, whose ambition occasioned his ruin ia 
banishment, were afterwards driven from their king- 
dom with great regret, and died at Lyons in Gaul. 
And if any credit may be given to Nicephorus, 
Salome, the young lady who made this cruel request, 
fell into the ice as she was walking over it, Which; 
closing suddenly, cut off her head* 



280 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR, 



August 30. 

Luke xix. 41 — 44. And when he was come near, he beheld 
the city and wept over it, saying, If thou hadst known, 
even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong 
to thy peace, but now they are hid from thine eyes. For 
the days shall come upon thee that thine enemies shall cast 
a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep 
thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even with the 
ground, and thy children within thee, and they shall not 
leave thee one stone upon another, because thou knewest 
not the time of thy visitation. 

The awful and complete overthrow of Jerusalem 
by Titus forms the most striking commentary on this 
passage. This happened, A. D* 79. It was re- 
markable that when he solemnly declared he would 
utterly waste the city, he designed to save the temple, 
but Jesus had said, " that one stone should not be 
left upon another." The voice of prophecy was 
stronger than the voice of the general. In vain he 
had given a strict charge to guard it from injury — 
a soldier, " moved," said Josephus, " by a divine 
impulse, rising on the shoulders of his fellow, cast a 
brand into the sanctuary. Titus rushed to the spot 
to animate his men to extinguish the flames ; but he 
threatened, entreated, nay even punished in vain ; 
the fury of -the soldiers was not to be controlled, 
they increased the burning. Alas, all was consumed ! 
Thus perished a temple, which is said to have been 
built of marble so white, that it appeared a mountain 
of snow, — to have been so ornamented with gold, 
even on the outside, as almost to render it painful to 
look at when the sun shone ; and formed of stones 
cemented of an incredible magnitude. Then began 
a tremendous slaughter, in which neither sex nor age 
found any mercy ! The city was surrounded by in* 
numerable crosses. And so entirely was it after- 
wards razed from its foundation, that a ploughshare 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 281 

passed over its whole extent and compass. The 
Apostate Julian, with the express design to falsify 
the prediction of Christ, attempted to rebuild it ; 
but he was never able to accomplish it; nor has 
the city ever been built on the same spot to this 
hour/' 



August 31. 

2 Cor. v. 20. But where sin abounded, grace did much 
more abound. 

Died in London, 1688, John Bunyan, the far- 
famed author of the incomparable allegory, in titled 
The Pilgrim's Progress, one of the most popular 
books in the English language. The following ele- 
gant and appropriate lines allude to this ingenious 
author and his pilgrim : 

" O thou whom borne on fancy's eager wing 
Back to the season of life's happy spring, 
I pleas'd remember, and while memory yet 
Holds fast her office here, can ne'er forget. 
Ingenious dreamer, in whose well told tale 
Sweet fiction and sweet truth alike prevail : 
Whose humorous vein, strong sense, and simple style, 
May teach the gayest, make the gravest smile. 
Witty, and well employed, and like thy Lord, 
Speaking in parables his slighted word. 
I name thee not, lest so despis'd a name 
Should move a sneer at thy deserved fame. 
Yet ev'n in a transitory life's late day, 
That mingles all my brown with sober grey, 
Revere the man whose Pilgrim marks the road, 
And guides the Progress of the soul to God." 

COWPER. 

This singular man was born at Elstow, within a 
mile of Bedford, in i628. His father was a travel* 
ling tinker, and his mother of the like rank, and m 



282 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

the early part of life he abandoned himself to all 
manner of wickedness. The providence of God 
was conspicuously displayed in his preservation : he 
twice narrowly escaped drowning. Being a soldier 
in the Parliament army at the siege of Leicester, in 
in 1645, he was drawn out to stand sentinel ; but 
another soldier of his company desired to take his 
place, to which he agreed, and thereby probably 
escaped being shot through the head by a musket 
ball, which took off his comrade. About this time 
he married, having no other portion with his wife 
than the two following books, left by her late father, 
The Plain Man's Pathway to Heaven, and The 
Practice of Piety. Bunyan often read in these 
books, and his wife frequently telling him of her 
father's religious holy life, and how he reproved 
vice and immorality, both in his own house and 
among his neighbours, begat in him some desires 
to reform his vicious course of life ; and accord- 
ingly he went to church twice a-day, with a great 
deal of seeming devotion, but still was not able 
to forsake his sins. One day being at play with his 
companions, he says, a voice suddenly darted from 
heaven into my soul, saying, " Wilt thou leave thy 
sins and go to heaven, or have thy sins and go 
to hellT This put him into such a consternation, 
that he immediately left his sport, and looking up 
to heaven, thought he saw, with the eyes of his 
understanding, the Lord Jesus looking down upon 
him as highly displeased with him, and threatening 
him with some grievous punishment for his ungodly 
practices. At another time, whilst he was throwing 
out oaths, he was severely reproved by a woman, 
who was herself a notorious sinner, and who told 
him he was the ugliest fellow for swearing she ever 
heard in all her life ; that he was able to spoil all 
the youth of the town, if they came but into his 
company. This reproof coming from a woman whom 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 283 

he knew to be very wicked, filled him with secret 
shame, and wrought more with him than many that 
had been given him before by those that were sober 
and godly, and made him, from that time, very 
much refrain from it. Going one day into Bedford 
to seek for work, he heard three or four poor women 
sitting together, conversing of the things of God. 
He drew near to them, to hear what they said, for 
by this time he was a great talker, particularly 
about himself, in matters of religion ; but, says he, 
" I heard but understood not ; for they were far 
above out of my reach. Their talk was about the 
new birth, the work of God in their hearts, how 
they were convinced of their miserable state by 
nature, and how God had visited their souls with 
his love in the Lord Jesus, and with what scripture 
promises they had been refreshed, comforted, and 
supported against the temptations of the devil. 
They further spoke of the devices of Satan, how 
they had been borne up under his assaults, and 
delivered out of their afflictions ; and also of the 
deceitfulness, wickedness, and unbelief of their 
hearts ; loathing and abhorring themselves, and their 
own righteousness, as filthy and insufficient to do 
them any good. And methought (says he, using an 
expression of the most beautiful simplicity) they 
spake as though you did make them speak ; and 
all with such pleasantness of scripture language, 
and such appearance of grace, that they seemed 
to me as if they had found a new world ; and 
were people that dwelt alone, and were not to be 
reckoned among the nations/' The deep and lasting 
impressions made on his mind by the conversation 
of these good people, led him frequently to dis- 
course with them on the above important subjects ; 
by which means his heart was so far changed, that 
he cordially embraced the truth on conviction of 
scripture authority, and meditated therein continu* 



284 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

ally with great delight ; yea, his whole soul became 
so fixed on eternity and the things of the kingdom 
of God, that neither pleasures nor profits, per- 
suasions nor threats could move him from his stead- 
fastness. " Although, I may speak it with shame, 
yet (says he) it is certain truth, that it would have 
been as difficult for me to have taken my mind from 
heaven to earth, as I have found it often since to 
get it again from earth to heaven." He remarks, that 
while he was thus exercised with the workings of 
corruptions and the fear of damnation, he was sur- 
prised at two things ; the one was, to see old people 
hunting after the things of this life, as if they should 
live here always; the other was to find professors 
distressed and cast down when they met with out- 
ward losses, as of a husband, wife, child, &c. &c« 
" What seeking," says he, " after carnal things by 
some, and what grief in others for the loss of them ; 
whereas, if I knew but that my soul was in a good 
condition, how rich should I esteem myself, though 
blessed but with bread and water; I should reckon 
these but small afflictions, and should bear them as 
little burdens. But a wounded spirit who can bear." 
In this state he remained a great while, lamenting 
that God had made him a man, and not a beast, or 
bird, or fish, whose condition he coveted, because 
they were not like himself, obnoxious to the wrath 
of God, and be sent to hell when they died. But 
when God's time to comfort him was come, he provi- 
dentially heard a sermon from Cant. iv. 1. " Behold 
thou art fair, my love, behold thou art fair;" by 
which he found much relief. 

After some private trials, he ventured openly to 
preach the gospel, in which, he says, he was at- 
tended with seals and success far beyond his ex- 
pectation. After he had publicly preached for five 
or six years before the restoration, on the 12th of 
November, 1660, he was apprehended by one Justice 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR, 285 

Wingate, at or near Harlington in Bedfordshire, 
and committed to prison, where were above sixty 
Dissenters. Here, with only two books — the Bible 
and the Book of Martyrs, he employed his time, 
for twelve years and a half, in preaching to and 
praying with bis fellow prisoners, in writing several 
of his works, and in making tagged laces for the 
support of himself and his family. Indeed, his 
wife (whom he had married about two years before, 
having buried his former) made every effort to pro- 
cure his release, both at London, and at Bedford 
assizes; but in vain. In the last year of his im- 
prisonment, upon the death of their former pastor, 
the Baptist congregation at Bedford, to whom he 
was joined, unanimously chose him for their pastor, 
Dec. 12, 1671. Bishop Barlow of Lincoln pro- 
cured his enlargement; after which he travelled 
into various parts of England to visit and confirm 
his brethren; and this procured him the title of 
Bishop Bunyan. In the reign of James II. upon 
the famous declaration for liberty of conscience, 
Mr. Bunyan, by the voluntary contributions of his 
friends, built a public meeting-house at Bedford, 
and preached constantly to large congregations. He 
likewise frequently came to London and preached 
among the Nonconformists there ; and it is said 
the learned Dr. John Owen was often one of his 
hearers. 

The moral character of Mr. Bunyan was unex- 
ceptionable, and his conduct of so peaceable a ten- 
dency, that it procured for him the blessed title of a 
se peacemaker." 



28£ PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 



September 1. 

5£salm xxiv. 2. For he hath founded it upon the seas ; and 
established it upon the floods. 

The world was created, according to Julius Afri- 
canus, 5508, B. C. but most chrouologers mention 
the year 4004, B. C. The works of creation call 
for our admiration and regard. However mysteri- 
ous to us the laws of nature may appear, yet it is 
for us to adore the wisdom, power, and goodness 
of the great Creator of this our system. When 
Caesarius, a primitive saint, was arguing in himself 
how the above scripture could be true, that the 
earth was founded upon the waters, how the more 
weighty elements should not sink, and be over- 
whelmed by the other, he stopped the course of 
his thoughts by this reflection, / forgot myself 
when I said to God, How can this be? And thus 
he admired that which he could not comprehend. 
** For inferior reasons (says Dr. Bates) we often 
pray, that particular evils, which are near, may be 
prevented, but if they overtake us, we may be satis- 
fied that they are appointed by his supreme reason 
and everlasting counsel. As in a concert of music, 
the parts are not formed when they are sung, but 
were composed before by the skill of the musician, 
and every part assigned to the voices of the persons. 
Thus the various conditions and passages of our 
lives were so disposed by the sovereign wisdom of 
God from eternity, and as most fit for us. Whether 
the evils proceed more immediately and entirely 
from his hand, or by the intercurrence of second 
causes; it is equally certain that they come by 
the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. 
Our Saviour answers Pilate, Thou couldst have m 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 287 

power at all against me, except it were given thee 
from above." 

" As to the creation of the world/' continues this 
excellent author, " if we survey the universe and all 
the beings it contains, their proportR :)> dqvn^nce, 
and harmony, it will fully appear, that smi ^idently 
to its existence, the^e was a perfect mind that 
designed it, and disposed the various parts in that 
exact order, that one beautiful wor>d is composed 
of them. The philosopher conjectured truly, who 
being shipwrecked on the island of Rhodes, and 
came to the shore, spying some mathematical figures 
drawn on the sand, cried out with joy, Vestigia 
liominum video, I see the footsteps of men; and 
comforted his despairing companions that they were 
not cast into a desert, or place of savages* but of 
men civil and wise, as he discovered by those im- 
pressions on their minds. And if we observe the 
frame of the world, the concatenation of the su- 
perior with the middle, and of the middle with the 
lower parts, whereby it is not an accidental aggre- 
gation of bodies, but an intire universe: if we con- 
sider the just disposing them conveniently to their 
nature and dignity, the inferior and less noble de- 
pending on the superior, and that so many contrary 
natures with that fidelity and league of mutual love, 
embrace and assist each other, that every one work- 
ing according to its peculiar quality, yet all unite 
their operations for one general end, the preserva- 
tion and benefit of the whole, must we not strongly 
conclude that it is the work of a designing and most 
wise agent*" 



288 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

September 2. 

Amos vii. 4. Behold the Lord God called to -contend by fire, 

On this day, 1666, happened the fire of London. 
It is well remarked by Dr. Johnson, that the confla- 
gration of a city, with all its tumult of concomitant 
distress, is one of the most dreadful spectacles which 
this world can offer to human eyes. The fire of 
London, or, as it is sometimes denominated, the 
great fir e> broke out at a baker's house near London 
bridge, September 2, 1666, at night. The flame 
spread itself on all sides with such rapidity, that 
no efforts could extinguish it, till it had destroyed 
a considerable part of the city ; no less than 400 
streets and 13,000 houses being reduced to ashes ; 
and the wretched inhabitants reduced to be specta- 
tors of their own ruin, were pursued from street 
to street by the flames, which unexpectedly ga- 
thered round them. Three days and nights did 
the fire advance ; and it was only by blowing up 
of houses that it was at last extinguished. Men, 
says Rapin, failed not to give scope to their imagina- 
tion, and to form conjectures upon the causes and 
authors of this dreadful fire. The pious and the 
religious ascribed it to the just vengeance of Heaven 
on a city where vice and immorality reigned so 
openly and shamefully , and which had not been 
sufficiently humbled by the raging pestilence of the 
preceding year. Some imputed this misfortune to 
the malice of the republicans, others to the papists. 
It was, however, generally imputed to the last, and 
the rather because several things afterwards helped 
to confirm this suspicion. It is nevertheless ob- 
served by Hume, that after the strictest inquiry by 
a committee of Parliament, no proof, or even pre- 
sumption, ever appeared to authorise such a calumny* 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 289 

yet in order to give countenance to the popular pre- 
judice, the inscription engraven by authority on the 
Monument, ascribed this calamity to that sect. 

From this awful event, however, we may learn 
how soon the brightest scenes may be changed into 
lamentation, and mourning, and woe. He who hath 
given us the elements for our comfort and safety, can 
easily employ them for our misery and destruction 
when we sin a«ainst him. 



September 3. 

Isa. xiv. 16. Is (his the man that made the earth to tremble ? 

Oliver Cromwell died, 1658, in the 59th 
year of his age. The ways of Providence are often 
dark and mysterious. While princes are made to 
wander in a solitary way, and the thrones of mon- 
archy are shaken by the convulsions of the earth, 
obscure individuals are sometimes raised up, to whom 
astonishing success and prosperity are given for a 
season. Thus Cromwell was the son of a private 
gentleman of Huntingdon. When young, he was 
remarkable only for the profligacy of his conduct, 
and the wasting his parental portion ; but from 
being one of the most debauched, he became one of 
the most abstemious and rigid men in the kingdom. 
His person, it is said, was ungraceful, his dress 
slovenly, his elocution homely, tedious, and obscure. 
He made up, however, by zeal and perseverance 
what he wanted in natural powers ; and being en- 
dowed with unshaken intrepidity, and a thorough 
conviction of the rectitude of his cause, he rose 
through the gradations of preferment to the post of 
Lieutenant General under Fairfax ; but in reality 
possessing the supreme command over the whole 
O 



290 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

army. Bishop Burnet gives us the following ac- 
count of him. " He never could shake off the 
roughness of his education and temper: he spoke 
always long and very ungracefully. The enthusiast 
and the dissembler mixed so equally in a great part 
of his deportment, that it was not easy to tell which 
was the prevailing character. His maintaining the 
honour of the nation in all foreign countries gratified 
the vanity which is very natural to Englishmen; of 
which he was so careful, that though he was not a 
crowned head, yet his ambassadors had all the re- 
spect paid to them which our kings' ambassadors 
ever had : he said, the dignity of the crown was 
upon the account of the nation, of which the king 
was only the representative or head ; so the nation 
being still the same, he would have the same regard 
paid to his ministers. The states of Holland were 
in such dread of him, that they took care to give 
him no sort of umbrage. All Italy trembled at the 
name of Cromwell, and seemed under a panic fear 
as long as he lived. His fleet scoured the Mediter- 
ranean : and the Turks durst not offend him, but 
delivered up Hide, who kept up the character of an 
ambassador from the King there, and was brought 
over and executed for it. Cromwell shewed his good 
understanding in nothing more, than in seeking out 
capable and worthy men for all employments, but 
most particularly for the courts of law, which gave 
a general satisfaction." 



September 4. 

Acts xx. 35. It is more blesse d to give than to receive. 

The Rev. Henry Jessey, formerly minister of 
St. Georges, Southwark, died, 1883. He was care* 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 291 

folly educated by his parents till he was seventeen 
years of age, when he went to the university; where, 
after four years diligent study, it pleased God to 
work a renewing change upon his heart, by the 
ministry of the word, whereby he was fitted for the 
employment for which God had designed him, and 
to which he himself was greatly inclined. Upon the 
deatli of his father, who had supplied him according 
to his ability, he was so straitened as Hot to have 
above three pence a-day, and yet so did he manage 
that small pittance, as to spare part of it for hiring 
books. When he became settled in the ministry, he 
was a constant soliciter and agent for the poor, with 
others whom he knew were able to supply their 
wants. For this end he always carried about with 
him a list of the names of the greatest objects of 
charity known to him, with their afflictions, neces- 
sities, and characters affixed. Above thirty families 
had all their subsistence from him. Nor did he 
limit his charity to those of his own congregation or 
opinion ; he did good to all. And where he thought 
it no charity to give, he would lend, without interest 
or security. One of the most remarkable instances 
of his charity, which was perhaps without precedent, 
was that which he shewed to the poor Jews at Jeru- 
salem, who, by reason of a war between the Suedes 
and Poles (A. D. 1657), were reduced to great ex- 
tremity; their chief means of subsistence, from their 
rich brethren in other countries, being hereby cut off. 
Mr. J. collected for them £300, and with it sent 
letters with a view to their conversion to Christi- 
anity. 

The last evening but one before his departure, 
having a mind to walk, he was led about the room 
and often repeated this expression, " God is good ; 
he doth not lead me whither I would not, as he did 
Peter; good is the Lord to me." Being soon tired, 
he 3at down on his bed, and one who sat bv hint 
M 2 



292 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

said, they among whom you have laboured, can 
witness that you have been a faithful servant of 
Christ, making his glory your utmost end for the 
good of their souls. But he replied, n Say no more 
of that ; exalt God, exalt God." He spent the first 
part of his last night in blessing God, and singing 
praises to his name, and fell asleep about eleven 
o'clock. Waking again between two and three, he 
fell into a wonderful strain of abasing himself, and 
admiring the love of God, that he should choose the 
vilest, the unworthiest, and the basest, which last 
word he repeated many times, and then cried out, 
" O the unspeakable love of God, that he should 
reach me when I could not reach him." And when 
the sound of his word ceased, his lips were observed 
still to move, and he seemed to be inwardly adoring 
that God whom in his health he served, feared, and 
praised, and made his boast of continually ; whose 
law he preached, and whose goodness he proclaimed. 
He died lamented by persons of different persuasions* 
several thousands of whom attended his funeral. 



September 5. 

1 Tim. i. 13. A persecutor and injurious. 

Bonner, Bishop of London, died, 1569. The 
uarae of this cruel persecutor will always be re- 
collected with pain and horror. " Bloated at once 
with rage and luxury> he let loose his vengeance 
without restraint, and seemed to take a pleasure in 
the pains of the unhappy sufferers ; while Queen 
Mary by her letters exhorted him to pursue the 
horrid work without pity or intermission. He was 
twice deprived of his bishopric, and died at last in 
the Marshalsea prison, whither he had been com- 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 293 

mitted for refusing to take the oaths of allegiance to 
Queen Elizabeth. Thus he who had been so active 
in attempting to disgrace others, died in disgrace 
himself. Happy for us, the days are altered, and 
Protestants are no longer called to seal the truth 
with their blood. Let us value our privileges, and 
emulate the zeal and activity of those excellent men 
who did not count their lives dear unto themselves : 
so that like them we may finish our course with joy. 



September 6. 

Psalm xix. I. The heavens declare the glory of God, 

A very beautful comet, moving with great swift- 
ness, was seen in London, 1769. Its tail was com- 
puted to be thirty-six millions of miles in length, and 
presented a very grand and magnificent spectacle. 
The comets in our system, according to Sir Isaac 
Newton, are 21 in number, moving in all sorts of 
directions. Of these the periods of three only are 
supposed to be known to any degree of certainty. 
The first of them is supposed to return so as to be 
visible to the inhabitants of the earth every 75th 
year; the second every 129th year; and the third 
in no Jess a term than 575 years. This latter comet, 
at its greatest distance, is eleven thousand two 
hundred millions of miles from the sun ; and at its 
least distance from the sun's centre, which is 490,000 
miles, is within less than a third part of the sun's 
diameter from his surface. In that part of its orbit 
which is nearest the sun, it flies at the amazing 
swiftness of 880,000 miles an hour. The comet 
that appeared lately (1811), is the second since the 
beginning of the present century which has been 
visible to the naked eye. This comet is pronounced 
O 3 



294 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

by a very distinguished mathematician, Mr. Page 
of Congleton, to be the same that appeared in 1661, 
and whose period is 150 years, not 129 years, as 
bath been generally supposed, and hence expected 
in 1789, and confounded with one seen in 1582. 
It exceeds hi apparent magnitude any thing of the 
kind that has been seen within the memory of man. 
The comet which appeared in the year 1743 moved 
at the amazing rate of 600,000 miles an hour, or 
10 000 miles in a minute. 

" What an amazing thought it is to consider this 
stupendous body traversing the immensity of the 
creation with such rapidity, and at the same time 
wheeling about in that time which the Almighty has 
prescribed for it ] That it should move in such in 
conceivable fury and combustion, and at the same 
time with such an exact regularity ] How spacious 
must the universe be that gives such bodies as these 
full play, without suffering the least disorder or con- 
fusion by it. What a glorious show are those beings 
entertained with, that can look into this great theatre 
of nature, and see myriads of such tremendous ob- 
jects wandering through those unmeasurable depths 
of aether, and running their appointed courses 1 
Our eyes may hereafter be strong enough to com- 
mand this magnificent prospect, and our under- 
standing able to find out the several uses of these 
great parts of the universe. In the mean time they 
are proper objects for our imagination to contem- 
plate, that we may form more exalted notions of in- 
finite wisdom and power, and learn to think humbly 
of ourselves, and of all the little works of human 
invention/' 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 295 



September 7. 

Eccl. ii. 11. Then I looked on all the works that my hand 
had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do ; 
and behold all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there 
was no profit under the sun. 

Queen Elizabeth born at Greenwich, 1533. 
From the closing scene of this princess's life, we 
may see how little dependence can be placed on any 
earthly good for real happiness. Notwithstanding 
her extent of knowledge, her great influence, and 
the unrivalled glory of her long reign ; the evening 
of her life exhibited a picture of great grief and 
distress. She fell into a profound melancholy, which 
all the advantages of her situation, all the recollec- 
tion of her former prosperity could not remove. 
She refused food and sustenance; and continued 
silent and gloomy ; sighs and groans were the only 
vent she gave to' her despondency, and she lay for 
ten days and nights upon the carpet, leaning on 
cushions which her maids brought her, till at last 
she fell into a lethargic slumber, and expired in the 
70th year of her age, at Richmond in Surry, 1603, 
Various reasons have been assigned for this de- 
pression of mind. It teaches us, however, the 
emptiness of all human grandeur; and that there is 
no royal path of escape from mental adversity. 
The dark cloud passes over the palace of the mo- 
narch as well as the cottage of the peasant. Happy 
are they who are enabled to look above all things 
here, and find by experience the truth of these 
words, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose 
mind is staved on thee/' 



O 4 



$96 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 



September 8. 

Prov. xiii. 22. A good man leaveth an inheritance to hi* 
children's children. 

Bishop Hall died, 1656. In illustrating this 
passage, and alluding to this great and good bishop, 
one observes, " What so interesting as children 1 
Children are pledges of mutual and hallowed affec- 
tion. Children recall the early scenes of our own 
Jives; they renew our image, they embalm our me- 
mory, they multiply and perpetuate i urselves. Other 
attachments lose their influence over us with age ; 
but love to children warms the heart even in death." 
But a good man does not possess mere natural affec- 
tion for his children ; he values their souls, and is 
deeply concerned for their best interests. He leaves 
an inheritance to them of a spiritual nature. His 
instructions, prayers, admonitions, and pious ex- 
amples, are treasures which prove of inestimable 
benefit. O how many children will have reason to 
be thankful for ever for the prayers and attention of 
parents. " I bless God," says Mr. Flavel, " for a 
religious tender father, who often poured out his 
soul to God for me; and this stock of prayers 1 
esteem above the fairest inheritance on earth." 
Bishop Hall thus speaks of his mother, " How often 
have I blessed the memory of those divine passages 
of experimental divinity which I have heard from 
her mouth. What day did she pass without being 
much engaged in private devotion? Never have 
any lips read to me such feeling lectures of piety. 
In a word, her life and death were saint- like." But 
how many names might be enumerated here, Austin, 
Hooker, Newton, Cecil, and others, experienced the 
benefit of parental instruction. Let this encourage 
parents to bring up their children in the nurture and 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 297 

admonition of the Lord. Let the means be used, 
and the most untoward may in God's time be brought 
to a knowledge of the truth. 



September 9. 

Isa. lvi. 1. Keep ye judgment and do justice. 

William the Conqueror died, 1087, in the 
61st, or, according to some, in the 64th year of his 
age. He was a prince of great courage and ca- 
pacity ; ambitious, politic, cruel, vindictive, and 
rapacious. His funeral was attended with a singular 
charge of injustice; and the attendants seemed to 
have paid more attention to the principle of the text 
above named than William had done. As the body 
was carrying to the grave, the prelates and priests 
attending with the most awful silence, a man who 
stood upon an eminence was heard to cry out with a 
loud voice, and to forbid the interment of the body 
in a spot that had been unjustly seized by the con- 
queror. " That very place," cried the man, " is the 
aerea of my father's house, and I now summon the 
departed soul before the divine tribunal to do me 
justice, and to atone for so great an oppression. 
The bishops and attendants were struck with the 
man's intrepid conduct ; they inquired into the truth 
of his charge, and finding it just, agreed to satisfy 
him for the damages he had sustained/' In this 
place the following instances of justice may be intro- 
duced, in which we may see a spirit manifested ex- 
actly opposite to that of William. 

Artibarzanes, an officer of Artaxerxes king of 

Persia, begged his majesty to confer a favour upon 

him, which if he had complied with, would have 

been an act of injustice. The king being informed 

O 5 



298 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

that the promise of a considerable sum of moae) ? 
was the only motive that induced the officer to make 
so unreasonable a request, ordered his treasurer to 
give him thirty thousand dariuses, being a present of 
equal value with that which he was to have received. 
Giving him the order for the money, " Here (says 
the king) take this token of my friendship for you ; 
a gift of this nature cannot make me poor, but com- 
plying with your request would make me poor indeed, 
for it would make me unjust." 

While Athens was governed by the thirty tyrants, 
Socrates the philosopher was summoned to the senate 
house, and ordered to go with some other persons 
whom they named, to seize one Leon, a man of rank 
and fortune, whom they determined to put out of 
the way, that they might enjoy his estate. This 
commission Socrates flatly refused, and not satisfied 
therewith, added also his reasons for such refusal : 
"I will never willingly/' said he, "assist in an unjust 
act." Chericles sharply replied, " Dost thou think, 
Socrates, to talk always in this style and not to 
suffer!" "Far from it," added he, "I expect to 
suffer a thousand ills, but none so great as to do 
unjustly." 



September 10. 

Gen. ix. 13. I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be 
for a token of a corenant between me and the earth. 

A very beautiful lunar rainbow was observed this 
evening, 1802, at Matlock in Derbyshire ; between 
the hours of eight and nine its effect was singularly 
pleasing. The colours of these phenomena are some- 
times exceedingly well defined, but have a more 
tranquil tone than those which originate in the solar 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 299 

beams. They are not un frequent in Ibe vicinity of 
Matlock, being mentioned by some writers among 
the natural curiosities of that delightful spot. Miss 
Williams saw a beautiful lunar rainbow on the moun- 
tains of Glazis in Switzerland. 



September 11. 

Psalm Iv. 22. Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall 
sustain thee. 

During the ministry of the late Mr. Willison of 
Dundee, a serious woman who had been hearing him 
preach from the above-mentioned words, eame to his 
house in the evening, with a broken and oppressed 
mind, in order to make known to him her perplexed 
case. The poor woman, as she passed through the 
house to his room, heard a little girl repeating the 
text, which came with such power to her heart as 
effectually dispelled her fears, and set her at liberty. 
When she was introduced to Mr. W. she told him 
that she was come to make known her distress; but 
the Lord, by means of his grandchild repeating the 
text, as she came through the house, had graciously 
dispelled her fears and removed her burden, and 
now she only desired to give thanks for her spiritual 
recovery. How sovereign does the Almighty act in 
the choice of those means by which he is pleased to 
work. And how inadequate soever they may appear 
to us, how do they all fulfil his pleasure ! 



300 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 



September 12. 

Psalm viii 2. Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings 
hast thou ordained strength. 

A man who had a numerous family had been in 
the habit of living a very loose and disorderly life ; 
but a young minister coming to settle in the neigh- 
bourhood* and being a stranger, curiosity led many 
to hear hear him, among whom was this man. The 
•word did not, however, seem to have any visible 
effect. Some of the children, however, displayed an 
uncommonly serious disposition for their age. They 
delighted in reading and talking on godly subjects. 
Every evening, upon the father's return from the 
labour of the day, he v as persecuted (for so it may 
be called, considering the state of his mind) with 
the questions of his children, about God, Christ, 
heaven, hell, and religion, until he was at a loss for 
proper answers, and was obliged either forcibly to 
change the conversation, or make an excuse to leave 
the house. Though sometimes he became utterly 
unable to do either, and burst into tears, his children 
weeping with him. This drove him to lay the state 
of his soul seriously to heart, and to hear the word 
of God with attention, that he might understand 
the subjects he was so often constrained to converse 
about. In this way he was led to make such dis- 
coveries of his own ignorance and sinfulness as al- 
most to sink him to despair. But through grace 
this tended ultimately to make the salvation of 
Christ appear more necessary and, suitable to his 
case. Thus we see in what various ways God can 
work on the human mind. Let christian parents 
learn to instruct their children in the principles of 
the gospel ; and who can tell but they may be the 
instruments of saving many from death, and hiding 
a multitude of sins. 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. SOI 



September 13. 

Acts v. 31. Him hath God exalted with his right hand, to 
be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, 
and forgiveness of sins. 

Vespasian the Emperor died, A. D. 84. Dr. 
Bates illustrates the above passage in an allusion to 
this emperor. In speaking of the ascension of our 
Saviour, he observes that " he still retains the same 
solid love, the same godlike compassion, the same 
ready will, to support and deliver his people in 
misery. Nay, if the change of his state could have 
made any in him, it could be no other than what is 
recorded to the immortal honour of Vespasian, by 
one that had experience of his royal bounty, that 
raising him to the imperial throne made no alteration 
in his breast, but that his power was enlarged equal 
to his will of doing good. Our Saviour in his ex- 
altation at the right hand of God, has all power 
equal to his infinite love, that is suitable to the per- 
manent relation between him and the saints." 



September 14. 

Isaiah xxxiv. 9. And the lan4 thereof shall become Irarning 
pitch. 

On this and the preceding day, 1810, a tre- 
mendous eruption of Vesuvius took place. The 
village of Resina was nearly overwhelmed by the 
torrent of lava. The perpendicular height of Vesu- 
vius is only 3700 feet, though the ascent from the 
foot to the top is three Italian miles. One side of 
the mountain is well cultivated and fertile, producing 
great plenty of vines; but the soutja and west sides 



802 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

are entirely covered with cinders and ashes ; while a 
sulphurous smoke constantly issues from the top, 
sometimes attended with the most violent explosions 
of stones, the emission of great streams of lava, and 
all the other attendants of a most formidable volcano. 
The first of these eruptions recorded in history 
took place in the year 70 ; at which time the two 
cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum were entirely 
buried under the stones and ashes thrown out. In- 
credible mischief was also done to the neighbouring 
country, and numbers of people lost their lives, 
among whom was Pliny the elder. It is the opinion 
of the best judges, however, that this eruption was 
by no means the first that had ever happened. The 
very streets of those cities which were at that time 
overwhelmed, are said to have been partly paved 
with lava. Since that time, thirty different eruptions 
have been recorded, some of which have been ex- 
tremely violent. In the year 1538, a mountain 
three miles in circumference and a quarter of a 
mile iii perpendicular height, was thrown up in the 
course of one night. In the year 1786, Sir William 
Hamilton, ambassador to his Sicilian Majesty, began 
to observe the phenomena of this mountain ; and 
since that time the public have been favoured with 
much more exact and authentic accounts of the 
various changes which have taken place in Vesuvius 
than what were to be had before. 



September 15. 

John xi. 53. They took counsel together to put him to death. 

Sir Thomas Overbtjry was poisoned in the 
Tower, 1613. He was a man of great abilities and 
learning, and was therefore consulted by Car, Earl of 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 303 

Somerset, relative to his marriage with the Countess 
of Essex, who was desirous of procuring a divorce 
from her husband and marrying Car. Overbury 
declared himself utterly averse to the match. He 
described the Countess as an infamous and aban- 
doned woman, and went so far as to threaten the 
Earl that he would separate himself from hina for 
ever if he could so far forget his honour and his 
interest as to prosecute the intended marriage. The 
consequence of this advice was fatal to the giver; 
The Countess being made acquainted with his ex- 
postulations, urged her lover to undo him. In con- 
sequence of this command, the King was persuaded 
by the favourite to order Overbury on an embassy 
into Russia. Overbury was persuaded by the same 
adviser to refuse going; the delinquent was shut up 
in the Tower and there he was poisoned by the 
direction of the Countess in a tart. 

In the mean time the divorce which had been with 
some difficulty procured, took place, and the mar- 
riage of the favourite was solemnized with all ima- 
ginable splendour. But the suspicion of Overbury's 
being poisoned every day grew stronger, and reached 
the favourite amidst all the glare and splendour of 
seeming happiness and success. 

An apothecary's apprentice, who had been em- 
ployed in making up the poison, having retired to 
Flushing, divulged the secret there ; and the affair 
being thus laid before the King, he commanded Sir 
Edward Coke, Lord Chief Justice, to sift the aifair 
to the bottom with rigorous impartiality. This in- 
junction was executed with great industry and se- 
verity ; and the whole complication of their guilt 
was carefully unravelled. 

The lieutenant of the Tower, with some lesser 
criminals, were condemned and executed. Somerset 
and his countess were soon after found guilty, but 
reprieved, and pardoned after some years strict con- 



304 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

finement. However, he afterwards restored them 
both to liberty, and granted them a pension, with 
which they retired, and languished out the remain- 
der of their lives in guilt, infamy, and mutual re- 
crimination. 

Thus we see the awful consequences of indulging 
criminal passions. To gratify these, human life is 
sacrificed, and the most diabolical schemes pursued. 
Evil, however, pursueth sinners, and at last overtakes 
them to their confusion and ruin. 



September 16. 

Eccles. iv. 18. Better is a poor and wise child than a — 
foolish king. 

King James II. died at St. Germain, 1701. 
He was bred a papist, and was strongly bigotted to 
his principles. He began his reign with acts of 
imprudence ; went openly to mass ; made submis- 
sions to the Pope ; and the Jesuits seemed to reign 
over him. One day, when the Spanish ambassador 
ventured to advise his Majesty against placing too 
much confidence in such kind of people, " Is it not 
the custom in Spain/' said James, " for the king to 
consult with his confessor?" "Yes," answered the 
ambassador, " and that is the reason our affairs 
succeed so very ill." He was an arbitrary governor, 
and so odious to all the nation, that at last he was 
obligated to flee, not indeed without first seeing 
himself despised even by his own offspring. When 
he was told that the prince of Denmark, and Anne 
his favourite daughter had deserted him, and took 
part with the prevailing side, he was stung with the 
most bitter anguish. " God help me," cried he, in 
the extremity of his agony, " my own children have 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. S05 

forsaken me." Thus he brought misery upon him- 
self; as he had, alas, been too much the instrument 
of bringing it upon others. How true therefore is 
the above passage — Better is Hie condition of a poor 
and innocent child, than that of a cruel, foolish, and 
wicked king. 

On this day, 1697, was born at Exeter, Dr. 
James Fostek. He was a popular preacher 
in London for some years, and of an amiable and 
humane disposition. The following will afford us 
an illustration of that passage in James i. 5. " If any 
of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth 
liberally to all men and upbraideth not, and it shall 
be given him." 

A gentleman, who was afterwards for many years 
a clergyman of distinguished acceptance in the 
Church of England, one day called upon the Doctor, 
to converse with him upon the scepticism which 
then oppressed his own mind. After the necessary 
introduction, he began to state his objections, when 
the Doctor with that benevolent gravity, for which 
he was so distinguished, stopped him with this 
question, " Have you asked a solution of your diffi- 
culties from God this morning? Have }cu prayed 
to the Fountain of all light for information ]*' Upon 
receiving an answer in the negative, he rejoined, 
" Sir, you will excuse my gratifying your curiosity 
on the subject of revelation, while you are chargeable 
with the breach of the first duties of natural religion." 
Dr. Foster died Nov. 5, 1753. 



§06 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 



September 17. 

John vi. 66. From that time many of his disciples wenfc 
back and walked no more with him. 

How many will make a profession of religion for 
a season ; but when they find that the cross must be 
taken up, that the friendship of the world must be 
renounced ; that they must be reproached as poor, 
melancholy, or fanatical, then they give up all, and 
turn aside to their former ways. It is said that 
Aygoland king of the Moors (who had long made 
war against Charles the Great, and hoping to make 
a fair agreement with him) promised to receive the 
christian faith and be baptized ; but coming with a 
gallant retinue to the French court, saw there a 
number of poor men fed and clothed by the em- 
peror's charity, and inquiring who they were, it was 
answered that the y were the servants of God. 
"What," said he, "are the emperor's servants so 
rich and brave, and are the servants of God so poor 
and squalid. I had purposed to be baptized, but 
now I am resolved never to serve that God who 
keeps and rewards his servants no better." What 
this king spake out, many speak in their hearts ; 
they will not serve Christ upon self-denying and 
suffering terms. Thay know not that " God hath 
chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith and heirs 
of the kingdom. 



September 18. 

John viii. 44. He was a murderer, and abode not in the 
truth. 

The Emperor Domitian died, A. D. 96. Tn 
the beginning of his reign he promised tranquillity 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 307 

to the people, but their expectations were soon dis- 
apointed. Among other cruelties, he invited his 
senators to a grand feast. When they arrived at 
the palace, they were introduced into a large gloomy 
hall, hung with black, and lighted with a few glim- 
mering tapers. In the middle were placed a number 
of coffins, on each of which was inscribed the name 
of some one of the invited guests. On a sudden, a 
number of men burst into the room, clothed in 
black, with drawn swords arid flaming torches, and 
after they had for some time terrified them, they 
permitted them to retire, who, no*doubt, were happy 
to escape with their lives. Thus does the tyrant, 
the god of this world, often act towards men. He 
promises and invites them to a rich banquet, but, 
alas ! it is only in the end to terrify and destroy 
them. Let us then watch and pray, lest he should 
get an advantage of us, and we fall victims to his 
wiles. 



September 19, 

Micah vii. 2. They all lie in wait for blood, they hunt every 

man his brother. 
1 Thess. v. 13. Be at peace among yourselves. 

On this day, 1643, was fought, with desperate 
and steady valour on both sides, the battle of" New- 
bury in Berkshire, between the army of Charles I. 
and that of the Parliament. Who can reflect on 
these civil discords, either in their causes or conse- 
quences, without emotions of sorrow. " It was a 
dreadful sight to see so many thousands of the 
bravest men in the world, instead of employing their 
courage abroad, turning it agninst each other, while 
the dearest friends and the nearest kinsmen em- 
braced opposite sides, and prepared to bury their 



308 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

private regards in factious hatred." Have we not 
also seen too much of this same spirit where indeed 
it ought to have been least manifested. What theo- 
logical wars ; what contentions and strifes among 
those who should study peace, and learn to turn 
their arms against the common enemy. " I have 
somewhere," says Mr. Newton, " met with a passage 
of antient history, the substance of which, though 
my recollection of it is but imperfect, I will relate. 
It is an account of two large bodies of forces, which 
fell in with each other in a daik night. A battle 
immediately ensued. The attack and the resistance 
were supported with equal spirit. The contest was 
fierce and bloody. Great was the slaughter on 
both sides, and on both sides they were on the 
point of claiming the victory, when the day brake, 
and as the light advanced, they soon perceived, to 
their astonishment and grief, that owing to the dark- 
ness of the night, they had been fighting, not with 
enemies, as they had supposed, but with friends and 
allies: they had been doing their enemies' work, 
and weakening the cause they wished to support. 
The expectation of each party to conquer the other, 
was founded upon the losses the opponents had 
sustained ; and this was what proportionably aggra- 
vated their lamentation and distress, when they had 
sufficient light to shew them the mischief they had 
done. Ah! if shame be compatible with the hea- 
venly state, as perhaps in some sense it may (for 
believers, when most happy here, are most sensibly 
ashamed of themselves), shall we not, even then, be 
ashamed, to think how often, in this dark world, we 
mistook our friends for foes ; and that, while we 
thought we were fighting for the cause of God and 
truth, we were wounding and worrying the people 
whom he loved, and perhaps indulging our own 
narrow, selfish, party prejudices under the semblance 
of zeal for his glory/' 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 30$ 



September 20. 

Ephes. vi. 16. Above all, taking the shield of faith, where* 
with ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the 
wicked. 

Chabrias defeated the Lacedemonians, B.C. 
377. This Athenian general ordered his soldiers to 
put one knee on the ground, and firmly to rest their 
spear on the other, and cover themselves with their 
shields, by which means he daunted the enemy. 
He had a statue raised to his honour in that same 
posture. 

Myrtillus's shield, it is said, secured him in the 
field, and saved him when shipwrecked at sea, by 
wafting him to the shore. But how much more 
serviceable is the shield of faith. By this the 
Christian overcomes his spiritual enemies, and is 
enabled to triumph even in the midst of difficulties. 
Such at last will have to say, " I have fought a 
good fight, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there 
is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, and not 
to me only, but to all them who love his appearing." 



September 21. 

Ephes. iv. 18. Having the understanding darkened, being 
alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is 
in them, because of the blindness of their heart. 

Matt, xxviii. 19. Go ye therefore and teach all nations. 

On this day, 1795, the first general meeting of 
the Missionary Society was held, when the following 
resolution was passed, " That it is the opinion of 
this meeting, that the establishment of a society 
for sending missionaries to the heathen and un- 



S10 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

enlightened countries is desirable." The necessity 
of such a society cannot for a moment be doubted, 
when we consider that " more than six hundred 
millions of our fellow creatures know nothing of 
the blessed God. Many of them are worshipping 
great blocks of wood or stone, cut into horrid 
devilish forms, with gaping bloody mouths. Others 
have nothing but the name of a god written in great 
letters, which they worship, by burning before it 
pieces of paper. Millions are praying to a dead 
man ; myriads to a living one. Some adore the starS, 
and others the beasts. 

But as prayer to false gods will never give peace 
to the conscience, they endeavour to get pardon for 
their sins by torturing their bodies. One makes a 
vow to keep his fist clenched till the nails grow- 
through the back of his hand. Another hano's him- 
self by the middle of the body upon an iron hook. 
Many offer up their children to a river, which they 
worship as a god, by putting the poor little creatures 
into baskets, and throwing them into the water to be 
devoured by crocodiles. Not a few burn widows 
alive along with the corpses of their departed hus- 
bands. Some bring their poor aged sick parents to 
the banks of a river at low water, and leave them 
there, that when the tide rises, it may wash them 
away ; but others even eat them, and choose that 
time of the year when limes and salt are cheap, 
because they use these to season the flesh of their 
parents and make it palatable." Who that con- 
siders this, but must feel a most ardent concern that 
the gospel of Christ may be made known to these 
unhappy beings, that they may know, and fear, 
and worship the true God. We congratulate the 
Missionary Society on its perseverance and success. 
May it continue a lasting blessing to the nations of 
the earth. 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 311 



September 22. 



lloM. xii. 3. For I say to every man that is among you, not 
to think of himself more highly than he ought to think. 

Virgil the celebrated poet died, B. C. 18. He 
was eminent for his great talents and peculiar modesty 
at the same time. How charming is it when we can 
say of a great man that he is as humble as he is 
great. Humility is however peculiarly characteristic 
of a true Christian. It is indeed difficult to possess 
shining abilities without feeling more than we ought 
to feel. Yet we have had instances, even among the 
heathen, of great talents accompanied with great 
modesty. Virgil, who was called the Prince of the 
Latin poets, was naturally modest and of a timorous 
disposition. When people crowded to gaze upon 
him, or pointed at him with the finger with raptures :' 
the poet blushed and stole away from them, and 
often hid himself in shops to be removed from the 
curiosity and the admiration of the public. The 
Christian is called indeed to let his light shine before 
men ; but then it muut be with all meekness, sim- 
plicity, and modesty, 



September 23. 

1 Tim. iv. 8. Godliness is profitable unto all things, having 
the promise of this life, and of that which is to come. 

The great Halyburton died, 1712. His temper 
was naturally very pleasant and cheerful ; nor was 
its evenness impaired by his frequent disorders. He 
had (says a writer of his own country) a peculiar 
talent for composing differences. The prospect of 
divisions was afflicting to him ; and had some others 



BI2 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

been blessed with this spirit, his and our fears had 
been utterly disappointed. In a word, lie was very 
diligent in his function, using to say, a lazy minister 
in his younger years would make a poor old man. 
His life and conversation were \ery exemplary and 
very edifying upon all occasions. As he lived, so 
lie died, full of comfort and of confidence in his 
God. " I shall sliorlly," says he, " get a different 
sight of God from what I have ever had, and shall 
be more meet to praise him for ever. O the thoughts 
of an iucarnate God are sweet and ravishing ! And 

how I wonder at myself that I do not love him 
more, that I do not admire him more ! What a 
wonder that I enjoy such composure under all my 
bodily pain, and in the view of death. What a 
mercy, that having the use of my reason, I can 
declare his goodness to me. I long for his salva- 
tion. I bless his name, I have found him. 1 am 

■dying, rejoicing in the Lord. September 21, being 
the Lord's day, he said, " Shall I forget Zion ? 
Nay, let my right hand forget her cunning, if I 
prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy. O to 
have God returning to this church, and his work 
going forward in the world. If t*'i the drops of my 
blood, all the particles of my body, and all the hairs 
of my head, were men, they should for this go ail to 
the fire. O, sirs, I could not have believed that I 
should bear, and bear cheerfully, as I have done, 
this rod which hath Iain on me so lon£. This is a 
miracle; pain without pain. And this is not' the 
fancy of a man's disorder, but of one who is fully 
composed. O blessed be God that I was born. 

1 have a father and a mother, and ten brethren and 
sisters in heaven, and I shall be the eleventh. O 
blessed be the day that I was ever born ! O that I 
were where he is ! And yet were God to withdraw 
from me, I should be weak as water. All that I 
^enjoy, though it be miracle on nmaeie, would not 






PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 313 

support me without fresh supplies from God. The 
thing I rejoice in is this, that God is altogether full; 
and that, in the Mediator Christ Jesus, is all the 
fulness of the Godhead, and it will never run out. 
Study the power of religion. Tis the power of 
religion, and not a name, that will give the comfort 
I find. There is telling in this providence, and I 
shall be telling it to eternity. If there be such a 
glory in his conduct towards me now, what will it 
be to see the Lamb in the midst of the throne ? 
My peace hath been like a river." Soon after, one 
of those about him having said, ■ ' You are now 
putting your seal to that truth, that g?*eat is the 
gain of godliness " he replied, " Yes, indeed/' 
Then said another, " And I hope you are encourag- 
ing yourself in the Lord V On which, not being able 
to speak, he lifted up his hands and clapped them ; 
and quickly after, went to the land where the weary 
are at rest. 



September 24. 

Proverbs xxiit.26. My son, give me thine heart. 

Such is the divine requisition. And can any thing 
be more reasonable ? If affection ought to rise in 
proportion to the excellency of the object, what ob- 
ject so worthy of our love as Jehovah, who is the 
perfection of beauty, and the author of all good 1 
Some indeed think but little of the exercise of the 
affections in religion ; but the fact is, there is no re- 
ligion without it; for while it has truth for its body, 
it has love for its soul. When one of the kings of 
England ordered that his subjects should attend pro- 
testant places of worship, the Catholics sent to Rome 
to know the pleasure of the Pope. His holiness sent 
P 



314 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

for answer, " Let the people of England give me theif 
hearts, and the king may tak^the rest." 

"External wojship," says Abp. Leigh ton, "doth 
openly acknowledge a Deity, but want of inward 
sense in worship secretly denieth it. The fool hath 
said in his heart, there is no God. It is strange to 
hear so much noise about religion in the world, and 
to find so little piety. To present the living God 
with a carcase of lifeless worship, is to pay him with 
shells of services, and so to mock him. And it is a 
more admirable long-suffering in him, to defer the 
punishment of such devotion, than all the other sins 
in the world. The Egyptian temples were rich and 
stately fabrics. A stranger, who had looked upon 
them without, would have imagined some great deity 
within ; but if they entered (as Lucian says, laugh- 
ing at them) nothing was to be seen, but only some 
ape, or cat, or pied bull, or some other fine god like 
those." 

" Among the heathens," says Brooks, " when the 
beasts were cut up for sacrifice, the first thing the 
priest looked upon was the heart, and if it was naught, 
the sacrifice was rejected. In like manner God rejects 
all those sacrifices where the heart is not." 



September 25. 

Psalm xv. 1, 5. Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle 5 
v who shall dwell in thy holy hill? — He that walketh up- 
rightly —that putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh 
reward against the innocent. 

Bishop Andrews died 1626, aged 70. He was 
buried in the parish church of Saint Saviour, South* 
wark. His bones, not many years since, were dis- 
placed, and upon taking them away, as it seems, to 
make room for other occupants, the hair of his beard* 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 315 

and his silken cap, were found undecayed in the re- 
mains of his coffin. The author of his Life celebrates 
in particular his great zeal and piety, his charily and 
compassion, his fidelity and integrity, his gratitude 
and thankfulness, his munificence and bounty, his 
hospitality, his humanity and affability, his modesty, 
his diligent application to study, and his talents as a 
preacher and a writer. He generally hated all sorts 
of vices, but more especially three, which were, usury, 
simony, and sacrilege. King James had so great an 
awe and veneration for him, that in his presence he 
refrained from that mirth and levity in which he in- 
dulged himself at other times. His admirable know* 
ledge in the learned tongues, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, 
Chaldee,Syriac, Arabic, besides other modern tongues, 
it is said to the number of fifteen, was such and 
so rare, that he was considered as one of the greatest 
linguists in Christendom. He was truly devotional. 
A great part of five hours every day he spent in 
prayer; and in his last sickness continued, when 
awake to pray audibly; and when both voice, and 
eyes, and hands, failed in their office, his countenance 
shewed that he still prayed, and praised God in his 
heart, till it pleased God to receive his soul to himself. 



September 26. 

!Heb. iv. 12. For the word of God is quick and powerful* 
and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to 
the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints 
and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents 
of the heart. 

Cyprian, a principal father of the christian 

church, was born at Carthage in Africa, at the latter 

end of the second or beginning of the third century. 

We know nothing more of his parents than that they 

P 2 



316 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

were heathens ; and he himself continued such till the 
last twelve years of his life. He applied himself early 
to the study of oratory, and taught rhetoric in his na- 
tive city with the highest applause. His conversion is 
fixed to the year 246, and it happened at Carthage ; 
where, as Jerome observes, he had often employed his 
eloquence in defence of Paganism. He was made pres- 
byter in 247, and bishop of Carthage in 288, and ter- 
minated his excellent life in 258, by martyrdom, in the 
persecution of Valerian and Gallienus. 

In the conversion of this father, we find a proof of 
the truth of the above passage. It is said that this 
was effected by reading the prophecy of Jonah. We 
shall here subjoin a few instances of the same kind. 

" It is reported," says Mr. Brooks, " of one Andri- 
anus, who seeing the martyrs suffer such grievous 
things in the cause of God, he asked one of them 
what it was that enabled him to bear such sufferings 1 
He answered, it was that text, " Eye hath not seen, 
nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of 
man to conceive the things which God hath prepared 
for them that love him." This was set home with such 
power upon his heart, as terminated in his conver- 
sion ; so that he not only professed religion, but was 
enabled himself to die a martyr for it." 

Junius was converted by reading the first chapter 
of John the evangelist. 

A scandalous minister was struck at the heart, and 
converted, in reading that scripture, " Thou that 
teachest another, teaehest thou not thyself? " 

A poor man persuaded a young scholar to leave off 
reading poetry and to read the Scriptures, which ac- 
cordingly he did ; and it pleased the Lord, before he 
had read out Genesis, to change his heart, in the 
prime of his days, he being then but twenty years 
old. 

A young lady, called Potamia, of a very illustrious 
family, endured very much in her martyrdom, by the 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 317 

extreme cruelty of Basilides, her executioner. After 
her death, however, he thinking within himself of the 
holy words and scripture expressions that were uttered 
by her, during her cruel torments, became a Christian, 
and within a few days after was himself likewise 
crowned with martyrdom. 



September 27. 

1 John i. 9. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to 
forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteous- 
ness. 

What can be a greater inducement to repentance, 
than the persuasion that God is merciful and gra- 
cious 1 Without a belief of this, we must fall vic- 
tims to despair, and abandon all hope of salvation. 
But to the praise of the glory of his grace, he has 
made a provision in his Son, so that all who believe 
shall find mercy. The Tusculani, a people of Italy, 
having offended the Romans, whose power was in- 
finitely superior to theirs, Camillus, at the head of a 
considerable army, was on his march to subdue them. 
Conscious of their inability to cope with such an 
enemy, they took the following method to appease 
him . They declined all thoughts of resistance, set 
open their gates, and every man applied himself to 
his proper business, resolving to submit, where they 
knew it was in vain to contend. Camillus entering 
their city, was struck with the wisdom and candour 
of their conduct, and addressed himself to them in 
these words, "You only, of all people, have found out 
the true method of abating the Roman fury, and 
your submission has proved your best defence. Upon 
these terms, we can no more find in our hearts to in- 
jure you, than upon other terras you could have found 
P 3 



318 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

power to oppose us." The chief magistrate replied, 
" We have so sincerely repented of our former folly, 
that in confidence of that satisfaction to a generous 
enemy, we are not afraid to acknowledge our fault." 
Thus he who confesseth and forsaketh his sins, shall 
find mercy. 



September 28. 

Rev. vi. 2. And he went forth conquering and to conquer. 

The famous battle of Marathon was fought 490, 
B. C. Marathon was a village of Attica, 10 miles 
from Athens, celebrated for the victory which the 
10,000 Athenians and 1000 Plataeans v under the 
command of Miltiades, gained over the Persian army, 
consisting of 100,000 foot and 10,000 horse, or ac- 
cording to Val. Maximus, of 300,000 or, as Justin 
says, of 600,000, under the command of Datis and 
Artaphernes, on the 28th of Sept. 490. B. C. In this 
battle, according to Herodotus, the Athenians lost 
only 192 men, and the Persians 6,300. Justin has 
raised the loss of the Persians in this expedition, and 
in the battle to 200,000 men. To commemorate this 
victory of their countrymen, the Greeks raised small 
columns with the names inscribed on the tombs of 
the fallen heroes. 

How dreadful are the calamities of war. The name 
of conqueror indeed seems to carry something grand 
and impressive in it; but we forget at what expense 
conquests are made. " One murder makes a villain ; 
millions a hero/' It was remarked, however, of Se- 
leucas, that he conquered not to enslave nations, but 
to make them more happy. And does our adorable 
Redeemer wage war ? Yes : but against whom ? The 
powers of darkness ; the enemies of God and man. 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 319 

Are his garments dyed with blood ] Yes : but it is 
his own, and not the blood of his creatures. Does he 
subdue and bring into subjection ] Yes : but it is the 
pride, the prejudice, the folly of mankind. Does he 
make conquests and ride in triumph? Yes: but it 
is the conquest of the heart, and the triumph that of 
truth! 

He gives the signal, as he mounts his car, 

Of an eternal, universal war ; 

Rejects all treaty, penetrates all wiles, 

Scorns with the same indifference, frowns and smiles, 

Drives through t he realms of *in, where riot reels, 

And grinds her crown beneath bis burning wheels. 

Cowper, 



September 29. 

Luke xxii. 35. And he saith unto them, When I sent you 
without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing? 
And they said, Nothing. 

W. Mason, Esq. died 1791. He was an acting 
magistrate for the county of Surry ; an excellent man, 
and the author of many evangelical pieces. 
following will show how useful the above words were 
made to him. " These/' says he, " were precious 
words to me. With tears of thankfulness I record 
the goodness of my Lord tu the chief of sinners. Up- 
wards of twenty years ago, when it pleased God to 
call me by his grace, and make me happy in his love, 
my name was cast out as evil — friends became foes— 
their hands were against me — they withdrew their fa- 
vours from me, and derided me — under narrow cir- 
cumstances, tender feelings for a large family, carnal 
reasonings of my corrupt nature, and strong tern rota- 
tion from the enemy, I was sore distressed. But the 
Lord was gracious ; and often did he bring this text 
P 4 



320 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

to my mind, Lackedst thou any thing? I was con- 
strained with gratitude to reply, Nothing, Lord. 
Christ is a most precious Master to serve !* I have 
proved it." Thus too shall all his servants have to 
say. Let us then, under the darkest dispensations of 
his providence, trust in him, and not be afraid. 



September 30. 

Gal. iv. 18. It is good to be zealously affected always in a 
good thing. 

The Rev. George Whitfield died at Newbury 
in North America, 1770, aged 56. Few men, since 
the first ages of Christianity, have been more distin- 
guished for zeal and usefulness than Mr. Whitfield. 
The reviewer of his Life, by Seymour, says that ac- 
cording to the testimony of all his hearers, who have 
left memorials of him, or that still survive to describe 
him, he had an energy and happy combination of the 
passions so very extraordinary as to constitute a com- 
manding species of sublimity of character. In their 
swell, their fluctuations, their very turbulence, these 
passions so faithfully followed the nature of the sub- 
ject, and with such irresistible evidence of being ut- 
terly clear of all design of oratorical management, 
that they bore all the dignity of the subject along 
with them, and never appeared in their most ungo- 
vernable emotions, either extravagant or ludicrous, to 
any but minds of the coldest or profanest order. 
They never, like the violent ebullitions of mere tem- 
perament, confounded his ideas ; but on the con- 
trary, had the effect of giving those ideas a distinct 
and matchlessly vivid announcement, insomuch that 
ignorant and half barbarous men often seemed, in a 
way which amazed even themselves, to understand 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 321 

christian truths on their first delivery. Some of them 
might have heard, and they had heard, as unmeaning 
sounds, similar ideas expressed in the church service ; 
but in Whitfield's preaching they seemed to strike on 
their minds in fire and light. His delivery, if that 
could be spoken of as a thing distinguishable from 
that energy which inflamed his whole being, was con- 
fessedly oratorical in the highest degree of the high- 
est sense of the term. It varied through all the feel- 
ings, and gave the most natural and emphatic expres- 
sion of them all. He had, besides, great presence of 
mind in preaching, and the utmost aptitude to take 
advantage of attending circumstances, and even the 
incidents of the moment. His display of unparalleled 
energy was uniformly accompanied by irresistible 
evidence in the perfectly inartificial character of his 
signs of passion, in the exhausting frequency and in- 
terminable prosecution of his labours — in the courage 
and hazard in which some of them were ventured on 
— in the complete renunciation, which such a course 
plainly involved, of all views of emolument and pre- 
ferment — and in his forbearance to attempt, to any 
material extent, any thing like an organized sectarian 
system of co-operation — irresistible evidence, that 
his unceasing exertions, that his persuasions, his ex- 
postulations, his vehemence, his very indignation, 
were all inspired by a perpetual, genuine, and un- 
quenchable zeal for the christian cause, and the eter- 
nal welfare of men. We repeatedly find him, during 
a state of languor, which sometimes sunk quite down 
to illness, prosecuting such a course of exertions as 
would have been enough to reduce most strong men 
soon to that condition ; for example, preaching in his 
ardent and exhausting manner, to vast auditories, se- 
veral times each day, a number of days successively, 
when his debility was such that he could not, without 
much help, mount his horse to go to the appointed 
places. His mind held such a predominance over his 
P 5 



822 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

body, and the passion for preaching, and the passions 
to which preaching gave exercise, were so predomi- 
nant in his mind, that the employment had on him the 
effect of a species of enchantment. When so oppres- 
sed with lassitude and indisposition, as to perform 
with uneasiness the most ordinary actions, if he 
could but sustain just exertion enough to enter on 
preaching, he quickly became even physically strong 
and animated. Standing in the pulpit, or any thing 
provided for the same use, had on him the same effect 
that Antaeus derived from being extended a momen 
on the ground. The languor, of course, returned on 
him with double oppressiveness after the conclusion ; 
and the man whose powers of voice and action had 
appeared to evince an extraordinary vigour of frame, 
would be found, half an hour afterwards, extended oa 
two or three chairs, almost helpless and fainting. 
With all the advantage of such a power of voice, as 
perhaps no other man possessed, there must still of- 
ten have been a necessity for forcing it to the last 
possibility of exertion, in order to his being heard by 
congregations, very frequently amounting to many 
thousands, to ten or twelve, and sometimes to twenty, 
or even more. It is said that the bulk of even these 
largest multitudes could hear him very distinctly." 



October 1. 



2 Chron. xxxiv. 28. Thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in 
peace; neither shall Ihine eyes see all the evil that I will 
bring upon this place. 

The Rev. Joseph Mede died 1638. He was one 
of the most accomplished scholars of his age, being, 
it is said, an acute logician, an accurate philosopher, 
a skilful mathematician, an excellent anatomist, a 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 823 

great philologer, a master of many languages, and a 
good proficient in the studies of history and chrono- 
logy. He was so far from the vanity of ostentation, 
that it is hard to say whether he was more eminent 
for his rare knowledge, or for his singular humility 
and modesty in valuing his own abilities ; insomuch, 
as he could not, without trouble, hear of that great 
opinion and esteem which some, deservedly enough, 
had conceived of his great learning. Having received 
some notices of the great value which some learned 
men, both at home, and in a foreign university, put 
upon his apocalyptic labours, he made only this mo- 
dest return to a friend, who, perhaps, thought he 
might highly please him with that news, that he saw 
no great cause, for all that, why he should think much 
better of himself, adding withal, that he had fre- 
quently observed it to be the hap of many a book 
that had little or no worth in it, to find applause in 
the world, when in the meanwhile, a well deserving 
book is scarce taken notice of. So far was this good 
man from all proud self-reflections, from glorying in 
his wisdom and strength of parts, or in any perform- 
ance of his own. But that which added no small 
lustre to his character, was, his prudent mode- 
ration in the declaration or defence of his private 
opinions. He was never forward in any company to 
catch at hints of discourse, or to take any other occa- 
sion to reveal his particular judgment. So far was 
he from the temper of those men, who being puffed 
up, it may be, with a small decree of knowledge, ac- 
count it nothing to know, unless others know that 
they do; who must talk or burst; not so much for 
benefit to others, as to dispense and publish their 
own praise. He knew there was a time to speak and 
a time to keep silence ; and he knew how to Ho 
both. It was a frequent proverbial saying of his, 
*' He that cannot hold his tongue can hold nothing ;" 
and he practised it accordingly. We will only ob- 



324 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

serve one thing concerning the time of his death, that 
he was taken from the evils that were then ready to 
come upon this island : a favour which God vouch- 
safes to many of the righteous. So of good Josiah it 
is said, He should be gathered to his grave in peace, 
and not see all the evil which God should bring upon 
Jerusalem, So Possidonius, in the Life of St. Aus- 
tin, rebates, that he was taken away by death, when 
the Goths and Vandals had begun to besiege Hippo ; 
so that he saw not the direful mischiefs that were 
coming upon that place. Thus God, who favoured 
him with a life of tranquillity and freedom from 
worldly encumberances, made his death a preserva- 
tive against those approaching evils which then ho- 
vered over this kingdom. 



October 2. 

Mark xvi. 20. And they went forth preaching every where, 
the Lord working with them. 

The valuable and excellent missionary, the Rev. 
Mr. Gerike, died at Vellore, 1803. In the death 
of this great man> the Society for promoting Chris- 
tian Knowledge has lost a most faithful servant, the 
mission its second pillar, and all India a benefactor, 
and an eminent example of piety and virtue. Soon 
after his return from his most remarkable journey to 
the southern countries, in which he was very success- 
ful in the awakening of several thousand heathens to 
embrace the religion of Jesus Christ, his health was 
attacked by a fever, of which he recovered ; but his 
increasing and incessant labours did not permit him 
to enjoy that rest which his age of 61 years, and a 
weak frame of body required. He was taken with a 
disorder in the bowels, which he thought niight be 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 325 

removed by change of air ; but returning from Ray a- 
cottak to Vellore, his disorder increased to that, de- 
gree, that he was unable to proceed. Thus ended 
the laborious and pious life of this faithful servant of 
Christ, after he had served him in India thirty eight 
years, with a zeal and sincerity which were exemplary 
to the public and edifying to thousands, amongst Eu- 
ropeans and natives, of all ranks and situations. The 
consternation and grief among all classes; at the death 
of so valuable a man, was beyond description. His 
soft, mild, meek, and humble character had made 
him beloved by persons of distinguished stations, and 
by every one. His conversation was every where 
agreeable and instructive, as his long experience and 
attentive observations furnished him with important 
materials to entertain the company, wherever he hap- 
pened to be visiting. He spake with so much cir- 
cumspection and wisdom on religious and moral mat- 
ters, on literature and political subjects, that all who 
heard him were pleased; and even such as differed 
from him in matters of religion, had a respect for his 
exemplary character, and revered his Christian vir- 
tues, insomuch that many called him the Primitive 
Christian. His public spirit was always active; and 
he took a great part in any institution for the com- 
mon benefit. Though the propagation of the chris- 
tian religion was his chief object, and occupied his 
mind in preference to all other objects, he approved 
and encouraged, as much as he could, the culture of 
sciences in those with whom he was connected; and 
he even paid a monthly salary to an honest and skil- 
ful brahman for the benefit of Indian literature. In 
offering and rendering good services, he took very 
great pleasure ; and he never declined any which he 
found himself able to perform, even though attended 
with great difficulties. Many addressed themselves 
to him in their urgencies, and requested his oral or 
written commendation, mediation, or assistance, 



326 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

which had cost him much time, great exertions, loss 
of money besides his vast and extensive correspond- 
ence. His charity was boundless. Though the va- 
rious concerns which were entrusted to him, as a man 
on whose consciousness and exactness all could rely, 
and some generous rewards for his good offices might 
have made him rich, he observed the utmost frugality, 
that he might have to give to the needy. The loss of 
this faithful labourer, in the midst of his usefulness, 
and when providence seemed to be opening a wide 
and effectual door for the admission of the truth, is 
peculiarly afflictive. Not long before his decease, he 
wrote to the society, informing them, that he had 
recently been through the Mysore country, and 
thence to Palamcotta, visiting all their congregations. 
New churches were built, several villages had em- 
braced the christian faith and renounced their idols. 
The need of more preachers was exceedingly press- 
ing, for he says, " It seems that if we had faithful and 
discreet labourers for the vineyard of the Protestant 
Mission on this coast, to send wherever a door is 
opened unto us, rapid would be the progress of the 
gospel." He observed that the native teachers were 
not so acceptable as Europeans ; and adds, "With- 
out good missionaries, true disciples of Christ, from 
home, the work of the mission it seems would lose its 
respectability ; and missionaries, without the spirit 
and mind of Christ, and as full of the world as the 
natives are, would soon make the mission the most 
graceless thing imaginable." 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 327 



October 3. 

Ppov. ar. 17. He is in the way of life that keepeth instrac* 
tion, but he that refuseth reproof erreth. 

Tbis day, 1690, died Robert Barclay, an emi- 
nent writer among the people called Quakers. He 
was the son of Col. David Barclay, and born at Edin- 
burgh in 1648. His principal work is an Apology 
for the Quakers, the Dedication of which to King 
Charles II. is very remarkable for the uncommon 
frankness and simplicity with which it is written. 
The following is part of it. 

" God hath done great things for thee ; he hath 
sufficiently shewn thee that it is by him princes rule, 
and he can pull down and set up at his pleasure. He 
hath often faithfully warned thee by his servants, 
since he restored thee to thy royal dignity, that thy 
heart might not wax wanton against him, to forget 
his mercies and providences towards thee, whereby 
he might permit thee to be soothed up, and lulled 
in thy sins by the flattering of court parasites^ 
who by their fawning are the ruin of many princes. 

" There is no king in the world who can so expe- 
rimentally testify of God's providence and goodness, 
neither is there any who rules so many free people, 
so many true Christians, which thing renders thy 
government more honourable, thyself more consider- 
able, than the accession of many nations filled with 
slavish and superstitious souls. Thou hast tasted of 
prosperity and adversity, thou knowest what it is to 
be banished thy native country, to be overruled as 
well as to rule and sit upon the throne; and being 
oppressed, thou hast reason to know how hateful is 
the oppressor both to God and man ; if after all 
these warnings and advertisements thou dost not turn 
unto the Lord with all thy heart, but forget him who 



328 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

remembered thee in thy distress, and give up thyself 
to follow lust and vanity, surely great will be thy 
condemnation. " How little effect this faithful re- 
proof had upon the profligate monarch is well 
known. 



October 4. 

Acts ix. 21. Is not this he that destroyed them which called 
on this name in Jerusalem ? 

Vergerio, Bishop of Istria, died 1566. He was, 
it is said, at one time, in such favour with the Pope, 
that he designed to, make him a cardinal; but, upou 
some insinuations that he was leaning towards Lu- 
theranisrn, through bis long residence in Germany, 
the Pope changed his purpose. Upon the information 
of this circumstance (which seems to have had no 
other foundation than malice or envy) from Cardinal 
Ginucio, to whom the Pope had told it, Vergerio was 
quite astonished ; and, in order to put an end to all 
suspicions of that sort, he retired into the country, 
and began to compose a book, to which he prefixed 
this tide, Adversus Apostatas Germanics,- — Against 
the Apostates of Germany. This work naturally led 
hi in into strict investigations of the doctrine* of the 
Protestants, which he had never duly examined be- 
fore, in order to give them the most exact and forcible 
confutation. Divine grace took this occasion, which 
he meant for opposition, to bring about what he least 
expected — his conversion. The Apostle Paul was 
calied to the truth, when he meditated its ruin; and 
so was Vergerio, and the great Francis Junius. He 
found himself overcome and vanquished by a careful 
perusal of tl»e writings which he wished to explode ; 
and he saw tne rottenness and impiety of that church, 
whose interests it had been the main business of his 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 320 

life to uphold. In the utmost perturbation of mind, 
and relinquishing his views of a cardinal's hat, he 
went to confer with his own brother, John Baptist 
Vergerio, Bishop of Pola, in Istria, which territory is 
part of the Venetian state. His brother, to the last 
degree of astonishment, began to bewail the state and 
condition of Vergerio's understanding, and seemed 
rather at a loss what to do with himself, than how to 
give advice to another. At length, by Vergerio's re- 
peated entreaties, they applied themselves together 
in searching the Scriptures, and particularly in ex- 
amining by the Scriptures that important article, the 
justification of a sinner before God. The result was, 
the Spirit of God set home his word on both their 
hearts, and they became brethren in grace as well as 
in blood. They saw, in this pure glass of the word," 
the error of the church of Rome upon this doctrine, 
as well as the absurdity, fallacy, and impiety of 
many other tenets, which it maintains. Convinced 
of the truth in their own minds, they saw it was too 
precious a light to be confined under a bushel, or in 
their bosoms. • They, therefore, preached to the 
people of Istria the true doctrine of the gospel, ac- 
cording to the measure of grace given them. This 
soon alarmed the inquisition, as well as raised the in- 
dignation of the monks. This occasioned much per- 
plexity and distress. The inquisitors preached also 
frequent sermons against the person and doctrine of 
Vergerio, who was obliged to flee for safety from tbe 
approaching storm. Vergerio preached the gospel 
partly among 'he Grisons, and partly in the Valte- 
line, for several years. At length he was invited to 
Tubingen, in Suabia, by the Duke of Wurtemburgb, 
where he passed the remainder of his days. 



330 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 



October 5. 

1 Tim. i. 17. Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, 
the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. 
Amen. 

Dr. Jonathan Edwards born, 1703. The first 
time he ever found any delight in God aud divine 
things, was in reading the above passage. " As I 
read these words," says he, " there came into my 
soul, and was, as it were, diffused through it, a 
sense of the glory of the divine being ; a new sense, 
quite different from any thing I ever experienced 
before. Never any words of Scripture seemed to me 
as these words. I thought witn myself, how excel- 
lent a Being that was ; and how happy I should be 
if I might enjoy that God, and be wrapt up to God 
in heaven, and be as it were swallowed up in him. 
I kept saying, and as it were, singing over these words 
of Scripture to myself: and went to prayer, to 
pray to God that I might enjoy him; and prayed in 
a manner quite different from what I used to do; 
with a new sort of affection. But it never came into 
my thoughts that there was any spiritual, or a saving 
nature in this. Not long after I first be.^an to ex- 
perience these things, I gave an account to my father, 
of some things that had passed in my mind. 1 was 
much affected by the discourse we bad together. 
And when the discourse was ended, I walked ahroad 
alone, in a solitary place in my father's pasture, for 
contemplation. And as I was wanting there, and 
looked up on the sky and clouds, there came into my 
mind a sweet sense of the glorious majesty and grace 
of God, that I know not how to express. I seemed 
to see them both in a sweet conjunction. Majesty 
and meekness joined together. It was a sweet, and 
gentle, and holy majesty ; and also a majestic meek- 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 331 

iiess ; an awful sweetness ; a high, and great, and 
holy gentleness. After this my sense of divine things 
gradually increased, and became more and more live- 
ly, and had more of that inward sweetness. The ap- 
pearance of every thing was altered ; there seemed 
to be, as it were, a calm sweet cast, or appearance of 
divine glory in almost every thing. God's excellency, 
his wisdom, his purity, and his love, seemed to ap- 
pear in every thing ; in the sun, moon, and stars, in 
the clouds and blue sky ; in the grass, flowers, trees ; 
in the water, and in all nature; which used greatly to 
fix my mind. I often used to sit and view the moon, 
for a long time ; and so in the day-time, spent much 
time in viewing the clouds and sky, to behold the 
glory of God in these things. In the mean time 
singing forth with a low voice, my contemplations of 
the Creator and Redeemer/' 

Though Dr. Edwards was of a tender and delicate 
constitution, yet few students were capable of close 
application more hours in a day than he. He com- 
monly spent thirteen hours every day in his study. 
His most usual diversion in the summer was riding 
on horseback and walking. He would commonly, un- 
less diverted by company, ride two or three miles 
after dinner, to some lonely grove, where he would 
dismount and walk a while. At which times he 
generally carrietf his pen and ink with him, to note 
any thought that should be suggested, which he chose 
to retain and peruse, as what promised some light 
on any important subject. In the winter, he was 
wont, almost daily, to take an axe and chop wood 
moderately for the space of half an hour or more. 
He had an uncommon thirst for knowledge, in the 
pursuit of which he spared not costs or pains. He 
read all the books, especially books of divinity, that 
he could come at, from which he could hope to get 
any help in his pursuit of knowledge. But he studied 
the Bible more than all other books, and more than 



332 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 






most other divines do. His uncommon acquaint- 
ance with the Bible appears in his sermons, and most 
of his publications. 

As he lived, so he died, fully resigned to the will 
of God. " Never did any mortal man/' says his 
physician, " more fully and clearly evidence the sin- 
cerity of his profession, by one continued, universal, 
calm, cheerful resignation and patient submission to 
the divine will, through every stage of his disease 
than he ; not so much as one discontented expression, 
nor the least appearance of murmuring, through the 
whole. See March 22. 



October 6. 



Mal. ii. 16. Therefore, take heed of your spirit, that ye 
deal not treacherously. 

As treachery is a thing odious in its nature, so it 
has been often punished in a remarkable manner. 
Tarpeia, the daughter of Tarpeius, the governor of 
the citadel of Rome, promised to open the gates of 
the city to the Sabines, provided they gave her their 
gold bracelets, or as she expressed it, what they 
carried on their left hands. Tatius, the king of the 
Sabines consented, and as he entered the gates, to 
punish her perfidy, he threw not only his bracelet, 
but his shield upon Tarpeia. His followers imitated 
his example, and Tarpeia was crushed under the 
weight of the bracelets and shields of the Sabine 
army. 

A noble senator at Rome being proscribed by the 
Triumviri, they promised a great reward to them that 
would discover him ; whereupon the senator's own 
son betrayed him. The Triumviri, according to 
their promises, first rewarded hirn for their servi<ie& 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 333 

to the state, and then, to reward him for his trea- 
chery to his master, they threw him down headlong 
from 'the capital, whereby they broke his neck. 



October 7. 

Job xxxii. 22. I know not how to give flattering titles,, 

The Rev. John OLDiNG,of Deptford, died,! 785. 
He was an eminent Christian, and distinguished for 
his integrity, disinterestedness, and independent 
spirit. He was a great enemy to flattery; both to 
the giving and receiving of it. Not that lie was 
careless about his own reputation, or that of others; 
but he sought not the praise of men. Is it wrong, 
then, it may be asked, to commend characters which 
are excellent'? By no means; nor do truly valuable 
characters undervalue the opinions of the wise and 
good.- " The desire of praise," says Doctor Bates, 
" is sowed in human nature for excellent ends; — to 
restrain us from those alluring lusts that will ruin 
our reputation, and to excite us to do things noble 
and beneficial to the public. Praise, the reward of 
doing good, is a powerful incentive to improve and 
secure the civil felicity. It is a recompence God 
has promised. The upright shall be praised" 

Praise, however, when bestowed on the unworthy 
becomes an evil. Hence, continues Dr. Bates, " A 
philosopher, when a box of ointment, of precious 
composition, was presented to him, feeling his spirits 
revived with its fragrancy, broke forth with indigna- 
tion against those effeminate persons that perfume 
their hair and habits with it for vicious ends, and 
made the use of it disgraceful. But when praise 
that is so sweet and powerful a motive to encourage 



334 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

generous minds to the exploits of virtue, is bestowed 
on worthless persons, it is more detestable. The 
poisonous flowers of false praise are pernicious to 
those who are deceived and pleased with them." 



October 8. 

Acts xxvii. 18, 20. And being exceedingly tossed with ~& 
tempest — all hope that we should be saved was taken away. 

This day, 1744, Admiral Balchen, in the Victory 
man of war, of 110 guns, and 1100 men, were lost 
near Alderney, a small island in the English channel* 
near Cape la Hogue in France. The King settled 
£500 per annum on the admiral's widow. The un- 
happy fate of this brave officer is alluded to by Dr. 
Young in the following lines : 

Ocean ! thou dreadful and tumultuous home 
Of dangers, at eternal war with man. 
Death's capitol, where most he domineers, 
With all bis chosen terrors frowning round, 
And lately feasted high at Albion's cost. 

The strait between the island of Alderney and the 
coast of France is termed the Race of Alderney % 
which is sometimes, especially in the stormy weather, 
a very dangerous passage. It proved fatal to the 
son of Henry I. who was drowned there, with above 
a hundred and forty young noblemen of the princi- 
pal families in England and Normandy. The king, 
on hearing the calamity, fainted away, and was never 
seen to smile from that moment to the day of his 
death. 

In this month, and on the evening of the following 
day above-mentioaed, in 1799, La Lutine, a frigate 
of 32 guns, Captain Skynner, was totally lost on the 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 335 

tratward bank of the Fly Island Passage, near the 
Texel, on the coast of Holland. In the annals of our 
naval history, there has scarcely happened a loss at- 
tended with so much calamity, both of a public as 
well as private nature. There were on board 600,000 
dollars, about £140,000 sterling, in specie, which 
had been shipped by individual merchants in this 
country for the relief of different commercial houses 
at Hamburgh. There were also several merchants 
on board, all of whom, together with the captain and 
crew, unfortunately perished. The only survivor 
was a Mr. Schabrack, a notary public. 

To what dangers are those exposed, whose busi- 
ness lies on the great deep. How awful the reflec- 
tion, when multitudes are suddenly swept into an 
eternal world. How peculiarly thankful ought those 
to be who have been preserved while upon the tem- 
pestuous sea, and exposed to the stormy tempest. 
But as no man is sure of life in any place or at any 
time, how necessary we should all be prepared to 
meet our God, 



October 9. 



£ Samuel xii. 14. Thou hast gives occasion to the enemies 
of the Lord to blaspheme. 

Mr. David Brain erd died 1747, in his 30th 

year. As a laborious missionary, his life is worthy 
of the perusal of all who are candidates for that ho- 
nourable employ. Eminent, however, as he was, he 
could not always find that success which he so much 
desired, and that especially on the account of the 
evil conduct of some called Christians. And indeed 
nothing can be so injurious to the cause, as when 



336 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

such act inconsistent with their profession. It wounds 
the spirit of the righteous, increases the objections 
of infidels, and confirms the ignorant and wicked in 
their ignorance and evil practices. Yet what multi- 
tudes bear the name of Christian, who by their con- 
duct are throwing obstacles in the way of others, and 
even harden them in their sin. Mr, Brainerd in- 
forms us, that when among the American Indians, 
at one place where there was a great number, he 
halted, and offered to instruct them in the truths of 
Christianity. " Why," said one of them, " should 
you desire the Indians to become Christians, seeing 
the Christians are so much worse than the Indians? 
The Christians lie, steal, and drink, worse than the 
Indians. They first taught the Indians to be drunk. 
They steal to that degree, that their rulers are 
obliged to hang them for it; and that is not enough 
to deter others from the practice. But none of the 
Indians were ever hanged for stealing ; and yet they 
do not steal half so much. We will not consent, 
therefore, to become Christians, lest we should be 
as bad as they. W T e will live as our fathers lived, 
and go where our fathers are when we die." Not- 
withstanding, Mr. B. did all he could to explain to 
them, that these were not Christians in heart, and 
that he did not want them to become such as these, 
he could not prevail, but left them, mortified at the 
thought, that \\ui wickedness of some called Chris- 
tians should engender such prejudices. 









October 10. 

Psalm lvi. 3. What time I am afaid, I will trust in thee. 

Few know the hardships our forefathers under- 
went in persecuting times; yet strength was given 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 337 

them equal to their day ; and their wants were often 
supplied in a singular manner. Mr. Thomas Per- 
kins, a sufferer for conscience sake, was often in 
great straits. At one time, a niece of his, whom he 
had brought up, going after her marriage to visit 
him, in the course of free conversation with her, he 
said to her, " Child, how much do you think I have 
to keep my family? — But poor three pence/' At 
which she appearing affected, he with a great deal 
of cheerfulness cried out, " Fear not, God will pro- 
vide ;" and in a little time a gentleman's servant 
knocked at the door, who brought him a side of ve- 
nison for a present, together with some wheat and 
malt. Upon which, he took his niece by the hand, 
saying, " Do you see, child, here is venison, which 
is the noblest flesh ; and the finest of wheat for 
bread ; and good malt for drink. Did not I tell you 
God would provide for us T Thus, they who trust 
in Providence shall not be forsaken. 



October 11. 



2 Samuel i. 25. How are the mighty fallen in the midst of 
the battle ! 

Zuinglius, the Swiss reformer, died 1531. He 
was slain in a battle with his catholic opponents, 
the disputants not being able to settle their religious 
controversies without having recourse to arms. 
Zuinglius studied the learned languages at Basil and 
Berne, and philosophy at Vienna ; acquired great 
popularity as a preacher at Glazis and Zurich, and 
was killed in the 44th year of his age. Much had 
been said by the enemies of Zuinglius respecting his 
appearance on the field of battle; but it may be ob- 
served, what Oecolampadius and Sleidan have urged 
Q 



338 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

in his defence, that it was the custom of the Zu- 
rickese, from time immemorial, when they engaged 
in war, to have the chief minister of their church at- 
tendant upon them, both to preach to the people, 
and to pray for a blessing upon their arms. And, it 
must be owned, in this view, it could be no more im- 
proper for him, than for the chaplains who are now 
appointed to accompany regiments in their cam- 
paigns, or to sail in ships of war. Perhaps no order of 
men require instruction in religious duties more than 
soldiers, who have always, in actual service, the pros- 
pects of death before them, and who certainly can- 
not be the worse, either in morality or courage, for 
being prepared for it. It may be added, that Zuin- 
giius went not forth of his own accord. He was ab- 
solutely enforced and commanded by the senate, in 
point of duty. He did not go forth as a captain or 
commander of the army, but as a good citizen and 
faithful paster, who would not forsake his friends in 
their greatest peril ; nay, he went (says Melchior 
Adam) as a persuader to peace. About three hun- 
dred and eighty of his friends fell with him. 



October 12. 

1 Kfngs xxii. 1, 2. Josiah was eight years old when he be- 
gan to reign — And he did that which was right in the sight 
of the Lord. 

King Edward VI. born at Hampton Court, 
1537. The cultivation of his understanding, if we 
may credit historians, was amazing. He was said to 
understand the Greek, Latin, French, Italian, and 
Spanish languages. He was versed in logic, music, 
natural philosophy, and theology. Cardan, the ex- 
traordinary scholar and physician, happening to pay 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 339 

a visit to the English court, was so astonished at his 
early progress, that he extols him as a prodigy of 
nature. He expired at Greenwich in the sixteenth 
year of his age and the seventh 01 his reign, greatly 
regretted by all, as his early virtues gave a prospect 
of a continuance of a happy reign. In the time of 
his sickness, Dr. Ridley, Bishop of London, preached 
before him ; and took occasion to enlarge on the 
subject of charity, and on the obligation imposed on 
persons of high rank to be eminent in good works. 
The king was much affected at the discourse, and 
wrote to the Lord Mayor and Aldermen, requesting 
them to inform him speedily in what way he could 
most properly administer to the relief of the poor. 
Having received their answer, and duly considered 
the subject, he founded Christ's hospital for support- 
ing and educating the fatherless children of poor 
freemen of the city of London; he gave his own 
house at Bridewell to be a place of correction and 
employment for persons who were wilfully idle ; and 
he also confirmed and enlarged the grant for the 
hospital of St. Thomas in Southwark, which he had 
erected and endowed some months before. When 
he set his hands to these foundations, he fervently 
expressed his gratitude to God for having prolonged 
his life till he had completed that work. Thus he 
became the founder of these institutions; which, 
having had great additions since his time, may justly 
be ranked among the noblest in Europe. 

He expressed, during the whole course of his sick- 
ness, great submission to the will of God ; and 
seemed glad at the approaches of death : but the 
consideration of the state of religion and of the 
church much affected him ; and on that account, 
he said, he was desirous of life. At length, his 
strength and his spirits were so sunk, and he found 
death hastening on him, and in a most devout man- 
ner prepared himself for it. His whole exercise, 
Q 2 



340 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

some hours before his departure, consisted in short 
prayers and ejaculations. The last that he was 
heard to utter, were the following, " Lord God ! de- 
liver me from this miserable and wretched life ; and 
receive me among thy chosen! — Nevertheless, not 
my will, but thine be done! Lord, I commit my 
spirit to thee ! — O Lord ! thou knowest how happy 
it were for me to be with thee : yet, for thy chosen's 
sake, if it be thy will, send me life and health, that I 
may truly serve thee ! O Lord ! bless thy people ; 
and save thine inheritance — O Lord God, save thy 
chosen people of England! — O Lord God, defend 
this realm, and maintain thy true religion ; that I 
and ray people may praise thy holy name, for Jesus 
Christ's sake!" Seeing some persons about him, he 
seemed troubled, that they were so near, and had 
heard him ; but with a pleasant countenance, he 
said, he had been praying to God. And soon after, 
the pangs of death coming on him, he said to Sir 
Henry Sidney, who was holding him in his arms, " I 
am faint ! — Lord have mercy on me ; and receive 
my spirit !" and thus breathed out his innocent soul, 
on the 6th of July, 1553. 



October 13. 

Psalm cxix. 9. Wherewith shall a young man cleanse his 
way ? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. 

1 Kings xviii. 12. I thy servant fear the Lord from my 
youth. 

The learned Bez A died 1605, aged 86. The ad- 
vantages of early piety are every way great. It se- 
cures against innumerable evils, and produces the 
greatest joys; it forms also for future happiness; pre- 
pares us for the hour of adversity ; and removes the 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 341 

fear of death and judgment. In his last will and 
testament, Reza gives God thanks for this, that at 
the age of sixteen years he was called to the know- 
ledge of the truth ; and so many sins and sorrows 
were prevented, that otherwise would have over- 
taken him, and have made his life less happy and 
more miserable. 

The examples of early piety have also been ren- 
dered very useful. The late Rev. T. Reader, when 
a child, was deeply impressed with divine truth. 
A stranger visiting the family, observed that he did 
not fail to shut himself up alone for prayer. He 
was powerfully struck with a sense of his own negli- 
gence, and said, " What, shall a little child be so 
anxious for a place of retirement to pray, and I never 
prayed in my life!" From that time he began to be 
serious, and not only became a Christian, but a very 
valuable minister of Christ. " I myself/' says Mr. 
Thornton, " have known parents grown grey in the 
drudgery of sin and Satan, who have been brought, 
through the pious and affectionate endeavours of 
their own children, to enjoy the glorious liberty of 
Christ." 

It is to be lamented, however, that so many pro- 
crastinate, and think of nothing but the present 
world. The antients pictured youth like a young 
man, naked, with a veil over his face, his right hand 
bound behind him, and his left hand loose, and Time 
behind him pulling one thread out of his veil every 
day, intimating, that young mtn are void of know- 
ledge, and blind ; unlit to do good, ready to do evil, 
till time by little and little makes them wiser. 

" I have read of a king," says Mr. Brooks, " who 
having no issue to succeed him, espying one day a 
well favoured youth, took him to court, and com- 
mitted him to tutors to instruct him, providing by 
his will, that if he proved fit for government, he 
should be crowned king ; if not, he should be bound 
Q 3 




342 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

in chains, and made a galley slave. Now when he 
grew to years, the king's executors perceiving that he 
liad sadly neglected those means and opportunities 
whereby he might have been fit for state government, 
called him before them, and declared the king's will 
and pleasure concerning him, which was accordingly 
performed ; for they caused him to be fettered and 
committed to the galleys. Now what tongue can ex- 
press how much he was affected with his sad and mi- 
serable estate, especially when he considered with 
himself, that now he was chained who might have 
walked at liberty ; now he was a slave who might 
have been a king. The application is easy." 



October 14. 

Luke i. 77, 78. By the remission of their sins— through the 
tender mercy of our God. 

Dr. Gill died 1771, aged 73 years. He was a 
learned and laborious divine, and his works are well 
known in the religious world. The above text was 
the last he preached from. He continued to be em- 
ployed in his study, till within two or three weeks 
of his death, and always appeared calm, serene, and 
cheerful. His faith was steady, and his hope firm, 
to the last. To a relation he thus expressed nimself, 
** 1 depend wholly and alone, upon the free, sove- 
reign, eternal, unchangeable, and everlasting love of 
God ; the firm and everlasting covenant of grace, 
and my interest in the person of the Trinity, for my 
whole salvation : and not upon any righteousness of 
my own, nor any thing in me, or done by me, under 
the influences of the Holy Spirit ; nor upon any ser- 
vices of mine, which I have been assisted to perform 
for the good of the church ; but upon my interest in 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 343 

the persons of the Trinity ; the person, blood, and 
righteousness of Christ; the free grace of God, and 
the blessings of grace streaming to me through the 
blood and righteousness of Christ, as the ground of 
my hope. These are no new things with me ; but what 
I have been long acquainted with ; what I can live 
and die by. And this you may tell to any of my 
friends. I apprehend I shall not be long here." He 
expressed himself nearly in the same manner toother 
friends. To one that visited him he said, " I have 
nothing to make me uneasy ; v and repeated the fol- 
lowing lines from Dr. Watts : 

He raised me from the deeps of sin, 

The gates of gaping hell ; 
And fixed my standing more secure 

Than 'twas before I fell. 

This tranquillity of soul, and inward joy and peace 
of mind never left him. The last words he was heard 
to speak were, " O my Father, my Father ; " and 
then gently fell asleep in Jesus, without a sigh or 
groan. 

Died, also, this day, 1601, at Prague in Bohemia, 
the illustrious astronomer, Tycho Rrahe, repeating 
several times, / have not lived in vain. He wa$ 
born at Knudstorp, in Schonen Sweden, in 1546, a 
district which at that period belonged to Denmark; 
hence he is styled the Danish Astronomer. He made 
several important discoveries ; enriched astronomy 
with many facts; and was the first who determined 
the effect of refraction, whereby we see the sun or 
any slar above the horizon • before it is so in reality : 
as we see the bottom of a vessel when filled with wa- 
ter, which in the same position we do not perceive 
when empty. 

" Dr. Robertson, the historian, in one of his last 
conversations with Dr. Erskine, expressed his joy in 
reflecting that his life on earth had not been altoge- 
Q 4 



344 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

ther in vain. Epicurus, a few hours only previous 
to his dissolution, speaking of the torments of his dis- 
order to a friend, told him, that the joy he then felt 
in his mind, in the review of his public instructions, 
stood, as it were, in battle array betwixt him and 
the agonies which he endured. " I shall be happy/ 1 
says the pious Sturm, " if at the close of my life, I 
carry with me to the grave the merit of having been 
useful to society." Of persons whose studies and 
pursuits are accompanied with general utility, it 
may be truly affirmed that they live to some purpose ; 
which can never be said of those, how uncommon 
soever their abilities and attainments, who spend 
their whole time in abstract speculation, and pro- 
duce nothing of real use and service to their fellow- 
creatures." 

" Tlie soul-cheering expression, " I have not lived 
in vain/' was never more appropriately emitted than 
by Lord Grenville, when he brought the Slave Trade 
Felony Bill into the House of Lords, May 7, 1811. 
His Lordship then observed, that it had been his 
good fortune to introduce that Act into the House, 
which was first passed for the abolition of the slave 
trade. He considered it, he said, as the most ho- 
nourable act of his public life, and might say at the 
close of that life, " 1 have not lived in vain/' 



October 15. 

Micah ii. 10. Arise ye, and depart ; for this is not your 
rest, because it is polluted: it will destroy you even with a 
sore destruction. 

Eighteen persons killed at Sadler's Wells, 1807, 
on a false alarm of fire. To what dangers do many 
expose themselves in pursuing the pleasures of time 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 345 

and sense. Though the world is polluted, they do 
not fear the contamination. Though no rest can be 
found, they are prone to take up their abode in it. 
Though threatened with destruction, yet they linger ; 
unless divine mercy lay hold of them, to pluck them, 
as it were, out of the fire. But may we not say 
of the world as the philosopher said of Athens : " It 
may serve for a transient lodging, but not for a con- 
stant dwelling." Too many, however, make it their 
all, and thus involve themselves in misery. It is 
said of a woman, who being busied to save her goods 
when her house was in flames, forgot her child ; but 
the child being soon after inquired for, she cried 
out, " O my child, my child/' Thus will many 
thoughtless sinners, in a worse state, cry out, when 
it is too late, O our souls, our souls. Poor Sisera 
was not much better for the milk and butter, when 
he soon after felt the nail and the hammer. Let us 
all beware of the fascinating pleasures of this world ; 
knowing that all that is in the world passeth away, 
but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. 



October 16. 

Phil. iv. 13. I can- do all things through Christ which 
strengthened me. 

Sir Philip Sidney died 1586. The above pas- 
sage contains a grand sentiment ; for though without 
Christ the Christian can do nothing; yet with him 
what may he not do] By his influence we can be- 
lieve what he has revealed ; relinquish what he has 
prohibited ; perform what he has enjoined ; suffer 
what he is pleased to inflict; and wait patiently for 
what he has promised. When a philosopher was 
a^ked what he had got by his philosophy ? he an- 
Q 5 



S46 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

swered, "It hath learned me to condemn what others 
adore, and to bear what others cannot endure/' So, 
if it be asked, What good has religion done the Chris- 
tian ? he can say, " It hath taught me to renounce the 
world and its vanities, which others admire ; and en- 
abled me to bear with patience those troubles which 
others cannot endure." 

When Sir Piiilip Sidney, who was shot in the 
thigh, was about to undergo an operation of a painful 
nature, he told the surgeons that they had indeed a 
man under their hands of a sensible and delicate na- 
ture; yet one to whom the great Redeemer had given 
power above himself, either to do or to svfftr ; and 
therefore desired they would not throw a blemish on 
their art through tenderness to him. He died with 
great resignation to the will of God, and so general 
was the grief for his loss, that it was looked upon as 
very improper to appear in gay clothes at court for 
several months after. 

This day is also remarkable for the decollation of 
the Queen of France, 1793, She was the daughter of 
an empress, the sister of emperors, and the wife of a 
king. What an affecting instance of the instability 
of human grandeur. See January 21, 



October 17. 

Psalm cxix. 1?4. Deal with thy servant according unto thy 
mercy, and teach me thy statutes. 

George, Prince of Anholt and Bishop of 
Mersburg, died 1553, aged 46. He was an excellent 
man. Truth was bis object in all things ; and he 
used to say, with the wise prince of Israel, that ly- 
ing lips do not become a prince, above all men. He 
•ought truth like a philosopher, and loved it like a 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 347 

Christian. It is said that he most constantly and ar- 
dently begged of God to incline his heart only to the 
truth, and frequently with tears used to repeat the 
above words. At length he embraced and professed 
the doctrines of the Reformation ; he pulled down 
superstition, and set up seminaries of learning ; and 
thus was the instrument of doing much good. He 
died full of resignation, faith, and love. 

We may learn from the above instance, that they 
who sincerely seek the truth shall find it. 



October 18. 

1 Cor. ii. 1,2. And I, brethren, when I came to you, came 
not with excellency of speech, or of wisdom, declaring unto 
you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know 
any thing among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified. 

Dr. Manton died 1677, aged 56. "God had 
furnished him (says Dr. Bates) with a rare union of 
those parts that are requisite to form an excellent 
minister of his word. A clear judgment, rich fancy, 
strong memory, and happy elocution, met in him, 
and were excellently improved by his diligent study. 
He was endowed with extraordinary knowledge in the 
Scriptures, those holy oracles from whence all spi- 
ritual light is derived : and in his preaching gave 
such a perspicuous account of the order and depend- 
ence of divine truths, and with that facility applied 
the scriptures to confirm them, that every subject by 
his management was cultivated and improved. His 
discourses were so clear and convincing, that none, 
without offering voluntary violence to conscience, 
could resist their evidence. And from hence they 
were effectual, not only lo inspire a sudden flame, and 
raise a short commotion in the affections, but to make 



348 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

a lasting change in the life. As the matter of his 
sermons was designed for the good of souls, so his 
way of expression was proper to that end. Words 
are the vehicle of the heavenly light. As the divine 
wisdom was incarnate to reveal the eternal councils 
of God to the world, so spiritual wisdom in the mind, 
must be clothed with words, to make it sensible to 
others. And in this he had a singular talent. His 
style was not exquisitely studied, not consisting of 
harmonious periods, but far distant from vulgar mean- 
ness. His expression was natural and free, clear and 
eloquent, quick and powerful, without any specie of 
folly, and always suitable to the simplicity and ma- 
jesty of divine truths. His sermons afforded sub- 
stantial food with delight, so that a fastidious mind 
could not disrelish them. He abhorred a vain osten- 
tation of wit in handling sacred things ; so venerable 
and grave, and of eternal consequence. Indeed, 
what is more unbecoming a minister of Christ, than 
to waste the spirits of his brain, as a spider does his 
bowels, to spin a web only to catch flies ? to get vain 
applause by foolish pleasing the ignorant. And what 
cruelty is it to the souls of men ? 'Tis recorded as 
an instance of Nero's savage temper, that in a gene- 
ral famine, when many perished by hunger, he or- 
dered a ship should come from Egypt (the granary of 
Italy) laden with sand for the use of the wrestlers. 
In such extiemity to provide only for delight, that 
there might be spectacles at the theatre, when the 
city of Rome was a spectacle of such misery as to 
melt the heart of any but a Nero, was most barba- 
rou* cruelty. But 'tis cruelty of a heavier imputa- 
tion, for a minister to prepare his sermons to please 
the foolish curiosity of fancy with flashing conceits ; 
nay, such liiiht vanities, that would scarce be endured 
in a scene, while hungry souls languish for want of 
solid nourishment. His conversation in his family 
was holy and exemplary, every day instructing them 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 349 

from the Scriptures in their duty. I shall finish my 
character of him with observing his humility. He 
was deeply affected with the sense of his frailties 
and un worthiness. He considered the infinite purity 
of God, the perfection of his law, the rule of our 
duty, and by that humbling light discovered his ma- 
nifold defects. He expressed his thoughts to me a 
little before his death : " If the holy prophets were 
under strong impressions of fear, upon the extraordi- 
nary discovery of the Divine Presence, how shall we 
poor creatures appear before that holy and dreadful 
Majesty ] Isaiah, after his glorious vision of God, 
reflecting upon himself, as not retired from the com- 
merce and corruption of the world, breaks forth, 
** Woe is me, for I am undone! because I am a man 
of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people 
of unclean lips ; for mine eyes have seen the King, 
the Lord of Hosts." 'Tis terrible to appear before 
God the Judge of all, without the protection of the 
blood of sprinkling, that speaks better things than 
the blood of Abel/' This alone relieved him, and 
supported his hopes. Though his labours were 
abundant, yet he knew that the work of God, pass- 
ing through our hands, is so blemished, that without 
an appeal to pardoning mercy and grace, we cannot 
stand in judgment. This was the subject of his last 
public sermon." 



October 19. 

Psalm lxxxix. 45. The days of his youth hast thou short- 
ened. 

Henry Kifke White died 1806. Inthecourse 
of twenty one years, the sp*n of his brief bur >Uus- 
trious career, by indefatigable perseverance in study, 



350 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

unquenchable ardour of genius* sincere and progres- 
sive piety, he distinguished himself as a scholar, a 
poet, and a Christian, whose reliques will long con- 
tinue to astonish and delight the public, and whose 
story, though mournful, will nevertheless be held in 
everlasting remembrance, as a cheering example to 
youthful genius, when struggling with poverty or as- 
sailed by temptation. In addition to the exhausting 
labours of an attorney's clerk, this extraordinary 
youth employed his leisure hours in acquiring a 
knowledge of the Greek, Latin, French, Italian, Spa- 
nish, and Portuguese languages, in each of which he 
made considerable progress. Chemistry, astronomy, 
and electricity, were also numbered among his morn- 
ing, noon, evening, and midnight amusements. If 
time be computed by its occupation, he made a mi- 
nute of every moment of his leisure, and every day 
added sensibly to his stock of knowledge. He had 
also a turn for mechanics, and most of the furniture of 
his Httle study was the workmanship of his own 
hands ; but his most delightful relaxation was the 
exercise of his powers of composition, both in prose 
and verse ; and his works, now in every body's hands, 
exhibit abundant proofs of his uncommon ability, 
and his transcendant worth. 



October 20. 

Psalm xviii. 7. The earth shook and trembled, the founda- 
tions also of the hills moved and were shaken. 

Lima, the capital of Peru in South America, was 
destroyed by a most dreadful earthquake, 1687; an 
event which was annually noticed in that city after 
it was rebuilt, until it met with a similar catastro- 
phe in 1746 ; when it was utterly destroyed ; as was 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 351 

likewise the adjacent port of Callaco. The sea, re- 
ceding to a considerable drstance, returned in moun- 
tainous waves, foaming with the violence of the agita- 
tion, and converted Callaco into a sea : nothing re- 
maining except a piece of the fort, as a memorial of 
this terrible devastation. At that moment twenty- 
three ships were riding off the harbour, nineteen of 
which were absolutely sunk, and the other four were 
carried by the irresistible force of the waves, a con- 
siderable way up the country. Near 4000 persons 
perished at Callaco. How awful are thy judgments, 
O Lord ! 



October 21. 

2 Chron. xxxv. 23. And he said have me away, for I am 
sore wounded. 

Lord Nelson killed at the battle of Trafalgar, 
1805. In this dreadful engagement, which lasted 
four hours, 20 sail of the enemy were sunk or de- 
stroyed, and the French commander-in-chief (Admi- 
ral Villeneuve) with two Spanish admirals, were made 
prisoners. The British force consisted of 27, and 
that of the enemy 33 sail of the line — 18 French and 
15 Spanish. The gallant Nelson was wounded about 
the middle of the action, and died nearly at its close. 
He was not only eminent for his courage and naval 
skill; but the following will afford us a favourable 
idea of his dependence on him who is the God of 
armies. It is an entry m the hero's diary, Oct. 21, 
1805, the very day of the action. 

" At day-light saw the enemy's combined fleet from 
E. to E.S.E. — bore away — made the signal for order 
of sailing, and to prepare for battle, the enemy with 



352 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

their heads to the southward — at seven the enemy 
wearing in succession. 

" May the great God whom I worship, grant to 
my country, and for the benefit of Europe in general, 
a great and glorious victory, and may no miscon- 
duct in any one tarnish it ; and may humanity after 
victory be the predominant feature in the character 
of the British fleet. For myself, individually, I com- 
mit my life to Him who made me, and may his bles- 
sing light upon my endeavours for serving my King 
and country faithfully. To him I resign myself, and 
the just cause which is intrusted to me to defend. 
Amen, Amen, Amen." 



October 22. 

I Samuel i. 26. For"this child I prayed, and the Lord hath 
given me my petition which I asked of him. 

The learned Witsius died 1708. Before he was 
born, his pious parents made a vow to the Lord, that, 
if they had a male child, they would from his ear- 
liest years, endeavour to devote him to the ministry 
and service of the sanctuary. At length a son came, 
and they called him, after his pious grandfather, 
Hermannus; beseeching God, at the same time, that 
the spirit of that holy man, whose name he bore, 
might, as it were, revive in this his grandson, and 
that their infant offspring might not only equal, but, 
if possible, even go beyond him, in christian graces 
and ministerial abilities. And their prayers were in- 
deed signally answered. His premature birth had, 
however, well nigh cost both mother and son their 
lives. In consequence of this, he was, when born, so 
uncommonly small and weakly, that it was concluded 
he must die in a few hours. But herein his parents 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 353 

were disappointed in their fears, and this puny in- 
fant was raised to a very great man (not in body, for 
he was always spare and thin) ; a man of vast intel- 
lectual abilities, brightened and improved by deep 
study, and whose fame diffused itself throughout the 
christian world, by his useful, numerous, and learned 
labours. Under the care of his good uncle, Witsius 
made so rapid a progress in learning, that before he 
was fifteen years old, he could not only speak and 
write the Latin language correctly, and with some 
degree of fluency, but could also readily interpret 
the books of the Greek Testament, and the orations 
of Isocrates, and render the Hebrew commentaries of 
Samuel into Latin. His uncle had from his own 
childhood been inured to sanctify the ordinary ac- 
tions and offices of life, by sending up ejaculatory as- 
pirations to God, suitable to the business he was 
about ; in order to which he had made his memory 
the store-house of some more eminently useful and 
familiar texts of scripture, both of the Old and New 
Testament, which related, or might be accommodat- 
ed to every part of common life ; so that when he 
lay down, rose up, dressed, washed, walked abroad, 
studied, or did any thing else, he could repeat appo- 
site passages from the holy Scriptures, in their origi- 
nal languages of either Hebrew or Greek ; thereby, 
in a very eminent manner, acknowledging God in all 
his ways, and doing whatsoever he did to his glory. 
This same excellent practice he recommended to his 
nephew; which had so happy an effect, that very 
many portions, both of the Hebrew Bible and Greek 
Testament, were in his youth so deeply impressed 
on Witsius's memory, that, even in his old age, he 
never forgot them. 

With respect to his temper, it was as sweet, hum- 
ble, and benevolent, as cau be imagined. Hence 
arose, both his aversion to all unreasonable novelties 
in doctrine, and at the same time, his great modern- 



354 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

tion toward such persons as differed from him. He 
neither chose to be dictated to, nor to dictate; he 
followed no party, and formed none. His favourite 
maxim was, In necessary things, unity; in non-es- 
sentials, liberty ; in all things, prudence and charity. 
Agreeable to which was the motto upon all his seals, 

CANDIDE. 



October 23. 

Rev. xviii. 24. And in her was found the blood of prophets 
and saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth. 

This is a day memorable for two extraordinary 
awful and tragical events — the Irish massacre, 1641, 
and the revocation of the Edict of Nantz, 1685. In 
the first of these, the Irish resolved to cut oft all the 
Protestants of the kingdom at a stroke; so that nei- 
ther age, sex, nor condition received any pity. In 
such indiscriminate slaughter, neither former bene- 
fits, nor alliances, nor authority, were any protec- 
tion: numberless were the instances of friends mur- 
dering their intimates, relations their kinsmen, and 
servants their masters. In vain did flight save from 
the first assault ; destruction, that had an extensive 
spread, met the hunted victims at everv turn. Not 
only death, but studied cruelties, were inflicted on 
the unhappy sufferers ; the very avarice of the re- 
volters could not restrain their thirst for blood ; and 
they burned the inhabitants in their own houses, to 
increase their punishment. Several hundreds were 
driven upon a bridge, and from thence obliged, by 
these barbarians, to leap into the water, where they 
were drowned. The Protestants were driven from 
their houses to meet the severity of the weather, 
without food or raiment ; and numbers of them pe- 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 355 

rished with the cold, which happened at this time to 
be peculiarly severe. By some computations, those 
who perished by all these cruelties are made to 
amount to a hundred and fifty, or two hundred thou- 
sand ; but, by a moderate computation, they could 
not have been less than forty thousand. 

On this day, 1685, the famous Edict of Nantz was 
revoked. It was published in 1598, by Henry IV. 
to secure to his old friends the Protestants, the free 
exercise of their religion. The impolitic and unjust 
revocation of it by Lewis XIV. with the subsequent 
brutal and most inhuman dragooning of the Protes- 
tants, obliged them to take shelter in England, Hol- 
land, and different parts of Germany, where they 
established the silk and other manufactures, to the 
great prejudice of their own country. See TheoL 
Diet, article Persecution. 



October 24. 

Isaiah xxvi. 4. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose 

mind is stayed on thee, 
Romans t. 3. Tribulation worketh patience. 

The Rev. William Btjrkitt did 1703. In his 
childhood he appeared to be endowed with an ex- 
cellent memory, which, through the effect of divine 
grace and good education, became a sacred reposito- 
ry. While he was at school, it pleased God to visit 
him with the small-pox, which was a happy dispen- 
sation to him, for then God began, by the influence 
of his Holy Spirit, to move him to attend in earnest 
to the things of his peace, and wrought a holy change 
in the temper of his mind. He entered upon the 
ministry very early, after having been advanced by 
Bishop Reynolds, and not long after, was settled at 



356 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

Milden in Suffolk; at which place he was minister 
about twenty-one years, preaching evangelical truth. 
In 1692, he removed to Dedham in Essex. He 
preached much, and spared not himself at home or 
abroad, and delighted in his Master's work. In his 
preaching he was clear and easy to be understood, 
calculating his discourses to profit his hearers. Be- 
sides his heavenly matter and acceptable words, 
there was something of a charm in his voice ; and it 
pleased God to crown his public labours with great 
success to many of his hearers. In his visits to the 
poor, he not only ministered to their souls, but in- 
quired into their bodily wants, and procured to them 
the supplies they needed. Among his intimate ac- 
quaintance he was cheerful, but yet always inclined 
to quit the innocent pleasantry, and turn the dis- 
course into a serious channel. In his common con- 
versation, he conducted himself with sobriety, jus- 
tice, humility, and affability. No spots were to be 
found in his feasts ; no unworthy behaviour stained 
his holy character ; wherever he went, there appear- 
ed the Christian and the minister. I am assured 
from one (says Mr. Parkhurst) that he enjoyed an 
uninterrupted calmness and serenity of mind, and 
lived in the comfortable hope of God's love to his 
soul, and his title to glory, for several years before 
he died ; a mercy that those who are involved in 
the business of the world, and swallowed up in the 
pleasures of sin and sensuality, are strangers to, and 
will not believe. Some treated him unkindly, but he 
forbore speaking either bitterly or contemptibly of 
his enemies; and if they needed his service, he was 
ready to afford them it, heaping coals of fire upon 
their heads. Knowing the mischiefs of animosities, 
he used his persuasions, his interest, and his friends, 
to reduce his jarring neighbours to peace, and left 
nothing in his power undone to effect a reconcilia- 
tion. The declaration of several persons by his dy- 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 357 

ing bed, that he had been the instrument of their 
conversion, put him into a transport of joy. His 
patience in his last sickness was very exemplary. 
He said he had preached patience, and written of 
patience, and that therefore he was bound to prac- 
tice patience. His frame, in his sickness, was a con- 
tinued series of prayer, thanksgiving, and cheerful 
resignation to the divine will. A little before he 
poured out his last breath, he prayed, " Come, Lord 
Jesus, make a short work of it." 



October 25. 



Psalm xvi. 6. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant 
places ; y^a, I have a goodly heritage. 

King George III. ascended the throne 1760. 
The declaration made by his Majesty on coming to 
the crown was highly favourable to religious liberty. 
He said, " that it was his fixed purpose, as the best 
means to draw down the divine favour on his reign, 
to countenance and encourage the practice of true 
religion and virtue, and maintain the toleration in- 
violable." In one of the last speeches of his Ma- 
jesty, he says, " It affords me peculiar gratification 
to reflect, that during my reign, the advantages of 
religious toleration have been more generally and 
extensively enjoyed than at any former period/' 
And it must be confessed, that however gloomy 
things have been in other respects, in no king's reign 
have we seen such striking and extraordinary events 
as have transpired during this. Not only have so- 
cieties been formed for the protection of civil li- 
berty, for the encouragement of the liberal arts, 
for establishing the rights of humanity, for the ame- 
lioration of the condition of the poor, the wretched, 



358 PRACTICAL EXPOmion. 

and the destitute, but for the noble purpose, if pos- 
sible, of illuminating the world at large. The in- 
stitution of Bible, Missionary, Tract, and other so- 
cieties, too numerous to be named here, form some 
of the most delightful events of his Majesty's reign. 
No Christian can recollect former times, can think 
of the persecution and hardships of our forefathers, 
without feeling emotions of gratitude to God, for the 
privileges he now enjoys. Religious liberty is better 
understood, places of public worship are greatly in- 
creased, useful publications more widely diffused, 
and wealth itself" in various instances, has become 
tributary to the gospel of Christ. Happy art thou, 
O England, who is a people like unto thee ! 



October 26. 

Rev. i.8, 11. lam Alpha and Omega, the first and the 
last. 

Dr. Doddridge died at Lisbon, whither he went 
for the recovery of his health. The following will 
shew us how he was preserved from error, by the ex- 
amination of the above passage. " This has been 
interpreted," says the Doctor, " by many, as spoken 
by the Father, but it will be difficult to give suffi- 
cient proof of it. Most of the phrases which are 
here used concerning this glorious person, are after- 
wards used concerning our Lord Jesus Christ. But 
ifj after all, the words should be understood as 
spoken by the Father, our Lord's applying so many 
of these titles afterwards to himself, plainly proves 
his partaking with the Father the glory peculiar to 
the divine nature, and incommunicable to any crea- 
ture.*' 

94 That the titles should be repeated so soon, in a 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 350 

connection which demonstrates they are given to 
Christ will appear very remarkable. And I cannot 
forbear recording it, that this text has done more 
than any other in the Bible toward preventing me 
from going into the scheme which would make our 
Lord Jesus Christ no more than a deified creature." 

This was the passage which the Doctor records as 
being particularly useful to him in respect to doc- 
trine; but he mentions another also as much blessed 
to him in regard to his experience. As he was rid- 
ing through a country village, he was greatly strength- 
ened and comforted, at a time when he was greatly 
distressed in soul, by hearing a child at a door read- 
ing to his mistress these words, " As thy days, so 
shall thy strength be." 

One day, conversing with his pupils on the vari- 
ous manner in which real Christians died, he said, I 
wish that my last words may be those lines of Dr. 
Watts: 

A guilty, weak, and helpless worm, 

On thy kind arms I fall ; 
Be thou my strength and righteousness, 

My Jesus, and my all. 

Whether he uttered these words on his death bed, 
is not certain, but it is well known that the spirit 
they breathe was that in which Dr. Doddridge lived 
and died. Thus will all who know themselves, who 
are truly taught of God, be brought to depend on 
mercy, and on mercy alone. " If it be asked," said 
Mr. David Some, when on his death-bed, " how Da- 
vid Some died ? let it be answered, That he sought, 
and he found mercy/' 



360 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 



October 27. 

Psalm" xxxyii. "37. Mark the perfect man, and behold the 
upright, for the end of that man is peace, 

Mr. John Janeway born, 1633. He was Fel- 
low of King's College, Cambridge, and died at the 
age of twenty-four. The above passage is admir- 
ably illustrated in his dying experience. U O (said 
he to his friends) that I could but let you know 
what I now feel ! O that I could but shew you what 
I now see ! O that I could express the thousandth 
part of that sweetness which I now find in Christ ! 
My dear friends, we little think what Christ is worth 
upon a death-bed. I would not for a world live any 
longer. The very thought of a possibility of a reco- 
very makes me even tremble. Come, Lord Jesus, 
come quickly ! Death has lost its terror. Death is 
nothing ; I say death is nothing through grace to 
me. I long to be with Christ; I long to die. O 
that glory ! that unspeakable glory I behold ! My 
heart is full — my heart is full. Did you but see 
what I see, you would all cry out with me, How long, 
dear Lord, how long ! — Come, Lord Jesus, come 
quickly ! O, my friends, stand, and wonder: come, 
look upon a dying man, and wonder. Was there 
ever a greater kindness ! — Was thert ever more sen- 
sible manifestations of rich grace ! O why me, 
Lord, why me] Sure, this is a kin to heaven! If 
this be dying, dying is sweet. Let no Christian be 
afraid of dying ; dying is sweet to me. This bed is 
soft! O that you did but see and feel what I do! 
Come and behold a dying man more cheerful than 
ever you saw any healthy man in the midst of his 
sweetest enjoyments. O why should you be sad, 
when I am so glad 1 This is the hour I have waited 
for. I want now but one thing, and it is a speedy 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 361 

lift into heaven. — Come let us lift up our voices in 
praise. I will with you as long as my breath shall 
last, and when I have none, I shall do it better.'' 
Thus departed to glory the Rev. John Janeway, in 
the month of June, 1657. 



October 28. 

Mark v. 48. And they that did eat of the loaves were about 
five thousand men. 

Alfred the Great died on this day, A. D. 
900. He was a prince of a most amiable disposi- 
tion ; and the following will -afford us an instance 
both of his liberality and his trust in Divine Provi- 
dence. During the retreat of Alfred at Athelney in 
Somersetshire, after the defeat of his forces by the 
Danes, the following circumstance happened, which, 
while it convinces us of the extremities to which that 
great man was reduced, will give us a striking proof 
of his pious, benevolent disposition. A beggar came 
to his little castle there, and requested alms; when 
his Queen informed him, " that they had only one 
small loaf remaining, which was insufficient for them- 
selves and their friends, who were gone in quest of 
food, though with little hopes of success." The 
king replied, " Give the poor Christian one half of 
the loaf. He that could feed five thousand men 
with five loaves and two fishes, can certainly make 
that half loaf suffice for more than our necessity.*' 
Accordingly, the poor man was relieved, and this 
noble act of charity was soon recompensed by a pro- 
vidential store of fresh provisions, with which his 
people returned. 



R 



362 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

October 29. 

Eccles. vi. 6, Do not all go to one place ? 

Sir Walter Raleigh decapitated in Old Pa- 
lace Yard, Westminster, 1618, upon an ill-grounded 
charge of treason against James I. No measure of 
James's reign was attended with more public dissa- 
tisfaction than this instance of his meanness, cruelty, 
and injustice. He died with great magnanimity and 
cheerfulness. It is said, that when some of his 
friends lamented his confinement under the sentence 
of death, which he knew not how soon he might suf- 
fer, that he observed, " that the world itself was only 
a large prison, out of which some were every day se- 
lected for execution/' How little, alas ! does this 
thought affect us ! Is it not surprising, that we, 
who live in the midst of death, should remain so 
thoughtless and unconcerned ? The death of a 
friend, the sight of an execution, the witness of a per- 
son falling down dead, makes an impression for the 
moment ; but how soon does it wear away. We for- 
get that we ourselves are hastening to the grave as 
fast as time can carry us. 

Reader, to-morrow may be your day. Prepare, 
that you may be found of Christ Jesus in peace. 



October 30. 

Psalm cxxxix. 14. I am fearfully and wonderfully made. 

On this day, 1741 was born at Wallingham, a vil- 
lage in Cambridgeshire, Thomas Hale, a youth who 
was considered as one of nature's prodigies. When 
he was but three years of age, he measured three 






PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 365 

feet eight inches hi^h, was proportionably large, asid 
had a very strong and manly voice. He died before 
he had attained his sixth year, with all the symptoms 
of decrepitude and old age. 

Now and then we find an exception to the general 
law by which the Creator hath formed the animal 
frame; but how admirably and wonderfully con- 
structed is this machine. Let us indulge ourselves 
here in a few thoughts on this subject. The wis- 
dom of the Creator is in nothing seen more than in 
the heart. 

" An anatomist (as Dr. Paley observes) who un- 
derstood the structure of the heart, might say before- 
hand that it would play; but he would expect, I 
think, from the complexity of its mechanism, and the 
delicacy of many of its parts, that it should always 
be liable to derangement, or that it would soon work 
itself out. Yet shall this wonderful machine go 
night and day, for eighty years together, at the rate 
of a hundred thousand strokes every twenty-four 
hours, having at every stroke a great resistance to 
overcome ; and shall continue this action for this 
length of time, without disorder and without weari- 
ness. 

"__Each ventricle will at least contain one ounce of 
blood. The heart contracts four thousand times ia 
one hour ; from which it follows, that there passes 
* through the heart every hour four thousand ounces, 
or three hundred and fifty pounds of blood. Now 
the whole mass of blood is said to be about twenty- 
five pounds, so that a quantity of blood, equal to the 
whole mass of blood, passes through the heart four- 
teen times in one hour ; which is about once every 
four minutes. 

When we reflect also upon the number of muscles, 
not fewer than four hundred and forty-six in the hu- 
man body, known and named ; how contiguous they 
lie to each other, in lasers, as it were, over one an 
R 2 



361 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

other; crossing one another ; sometimes embedding 
in one another ; sometimes perforating one another, 
an arrangement which leaves to each its liberty, and 
its full piay ; this must necessarily require medita- 
tion and council. Dr. Nieuentyt, in the Leipsic 
Transaction, reckons up a hundred muscles that are 
employed every time we breathe; yet we take in, 
or let out, our breath without reflecting what a work 
is hereby performed — what an apparatus is laid in of 
instruments for the service, and how many such con- 
tribute their assistance to the effect. Breathing with 
ease is a blessing of every moment ; yet, of all others, 
it is that which we possess with the least conscious- 
ness. A man in an asthma is the only man who 
knows how to esteem it." 



October 31. 

Matt. xxv. 8. Our lamps are gone out. 

Among the different games and races at Athens, 
there was one in which they carried a burning torch 
in their hand. If they arrived to the end without 
its being extinguished, they obtained the prize. 
Thus, they only shall be saved, says the Saviour, 
who endure to the end. It is not the man who 
makes a splendid profession for a season — il is not 
the man who appears to carry the torch of truth 
otfy a part of the way, that shall be crowned — but he 
tv bo perseveres, and whose lamp is trimmed, and 
who holds fast his confidence, and tiie rejoicing of 
his hope unto the end. Yet, alas! how many seem 
to bid fair, for a season, but in time of temptation 
fall away. 

Epictetus tells us of a gentleman returning from 
banishment, who in his journey towards home, called 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 365 

at his house, told a sad story of an imprudent life ; 
the greater part of which being now spent, he was 
resolved for the future to live philosophically — engage 
in no business— to be candidate for no employment 
— not to go to court, nor to salute Caesar with ambi- 
tious attendances ; but to study, and worship the 
gods, and die willingly, when nature or necessity cal- 
led him. Just, however, as he was entering his door, 
letters from Caesar met him, and invited him to court ; 
where, alas ! he forgot all his promises, which were 
warm upon his lips ; grew pompous, secular, and 
ambitious ; and gave the gods thanks for his prefer- 
ment. Thus many form resolutions in their own 
strength, make for a season some pretensions to se- 
riousness, but like the children of Ephraim, who, 
though armed and carrying bows, yet turu back is 
the day of battle. 



November 1. 

Nahum. i. 5, 6. The mountains quake at him, and the hills 
melt, and the earth is burnt at his presence; yea, the world 
and all that dwell therein. Who can stand before his indig- 
nation, and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? 
his fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown 
down by him. 

On this day, 1755, Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, 
suffered dreadfully by an earthquake; no less than 
70,000 persons, according to the most moderate cal- 
culation, being destroyed by this horrid wreck of na- 
ture. At 35 minutes after nine in the morning, with- 
out the least warning, except a rumbling noise like 
thunder, a most dreadful shock took place, so that 
many buildings instantly fell. Then, with a scarce 
perceptible pause, the nature of the motion was 
11 3 



$66 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

changed, and the houses were tossed from side to 
side, with a motion like that of a waggon violently 
driven over rough stones. This second shock laid 
almost the whole city in ruins, with prodigious slaugh- 
ter of the people. The earthquake lasted in all about 
six minutes. At the moment of its beginning, some 
persons on the river, near a mile from the city, heard 
their boat make a noise as if it had run aground, 
though they were then in deep water ; and at the 
same time they saw the houses falling on both sides of 
the river. The bed of the river Tagus was in many 
places raised to its surface. Ships were driven from 
their anchors, and jostled together with great vio- 
lence ; nor did their masters know whether they were 
afloat or aground. A large new quay sunk to an un- 
fathomable depth, with several people who were upon 
it ; nor was one of the dead bodies ever found. The 
bar was at first seen dry from shore to shore : but 
suddenly the sea came rolling in like a mountain ; 
and about Belem Castle the water rose 50 feet almost 
in an instant. About noon there was another shock ; 
when the walls of several houses that yet remained, 
were seen to open from top to bottom, more than a 
quarter of a yard, and afterwards closed again so 
exactly, that scarce any mark of the injury was left. 

By an act of generosity and humanity which con- 
ferred the highest honour on the British Parliament 
and nation, the sum of £100,000 was voted for the 
use of the distressed inhabitants of that metropolis, 
and supplies to this amount in corn, fleur, rice, and 
other necessaries, were shipped without delay for 
Portugal, and proved a most welcome and seasonable 
relief. 

At the time of this calamitous event, the waters of 
Loch Lomond and Loch Ness, beautiful lakes in 
Scotland, were agitated in an uncommon manner. 
This last continued ebbing and flowing for the space 
of an hour, when a wave much greater than the 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR] 367 

others, terminated the commotion by overflowing the 
north bank of the lake, to the extent of 30 feet. At 
the same period a singular phenomenon happened to 
the hot well at Bristol : the water suddenly became 
as red as blood, and so very turbid that it could not 
be drank. And the water also of a common well, 
which had been remarkably clear, at once turned as 
black as ink, and continued unfit for use nearly a 
fortnight. The tide, likewise, in the river Avon, 
flowed back, contrary to its natural course ; and va- 
rious other effects of some unknown convulsion in the 
bowels of the earth, were perceived ]m different 
places. But all conjecture as to the extraordinary 
circumstances was vain, till the news arrived of the 
earthquake at Lisbon having happened on the same 
day, which gave a satisfactory solution to the several 
phenomena. 

This awful event was improved in various places 
in England, and a day of fasting observed the 6th of 
February following. In an anonymous address on 
the occasion, we find the following reflections : " Lis- 
bon, no more the wealthy city, the metropolis of a 
kingdom, no more the boast of Portugal ; its beauti- 
ful palaces are all in ruins, and many of its inhabi- 
tants are destroyed with it, no more to be had in re- 
membrance. View the desolation ! God speaks the 
awful word ; the earth trembles ; the mountains 
quake at him, and the hills melt; the subterraneous 
caverns open, and discharge their awful contents ! 
See the confusion ! the houses left naked, the inha- 
bitants flying, with terror in their looks ; some at- 
tempting to escape, but cannot, with shrieks that 
would pierce the hardest heart, see death before them, 
and are crushed at once ; whilst others flee with haste 
to the neighbouring fields and villages, and looking 
back, like the men of Ai, see their houses consuming 
in flames, and all their substance destroyed in a mo- 
ment. Awful scene to think of, but how much more 
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368 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 






awful must it be to be spectators of it ! No distinc- 
tion is made between the rich and the poor. The 
delicate woman, who would not adventure to set the 
sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness, is 
glad to fly naked, and rush through the surrounding 
flames, or else is involved in the common calamity. 
How sudden the fall ! Those who had the happiness 
to escape with their lives, had not a moment's time 
to take with them what they had been collecting for 
many years, but leave ail to be buried in the earth, 
or devoured by the unmerciful flames. But this, 
even this, is a happiness, when we consider how it 
was with others. They have lime, we may suppose, 
to give one shriek, and are seen no more. Thus to 
go into eternity in a moment, appears somewhat 
striking to all, but especially to those who know the 
worth of a soul. Thus awful is an earthquake 1 And 
yet, awful as it is, we might have felt it, and London, 
instead of Lisbon, might have been a heap of ruins. 
Think why the cloud bursts there and not here ! 
Why is Portugal, and not England, the place of con- 
fusion, and mourning in sackcloth 1 It is of the 
Lord's mercies, surely, that we are not consumed ; 
it is because his compassions fail not. And shall we 
abuse so much goodness, and make returns of ingra* 
titude for such distinguishing mercy ? Shall we con- 
tinue swearers, blasphemers, infidels, and still run 
into every excess of riot ] God forbid ! But we are 
concerned even with this distant judgment. Though 
it does not affect our lives in particular, it does our 
comforts: many of our countrymen and friends, we 
fear, have taken their everlasting leave of time ; many 
have lost their substance, and families are exposed to 
great want and affliction. And is not all this a loud 
call to awake and call on God, that he may give us 
repentance before it be too late 1 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 369 



November 2. 

3s t ehem. ii. 17. Come, and let us build up the wall of Jeru- 
salem, that we be no more a reproach. 

The Reformation began in Germany, 1519. It is 
peculiarly pleasing to see eminent men raised up, 
who prefer the public good to their own private ad- 
vantage. Such was Nehemiah, a man of a noble 
public spirit, who spent his time, strength, and es- 
tate, for the good and prosperity of his people, and 
that in the midst of great opposition from his ene- 
mies. Such was Luther, the great instrument of the 
Reformation in Germany, whose name will be in ever- 
lasting remembrance. The ancients were wont to 
place the statues of their princes by their fountains, 
intimating they were (or at least should be) fountains 
of the public good. It is said of Augustus Caesar, 
that he carried such an entire and fatherly affection 
to his commonwealth, that he called it his own 
daughter, and refused to be called thcLor^or Mas- 
ter, but rather the Father of his country. So Mar- 
cus Regulus, to save his country from ruin, exposed 
himself to the greatest suiFerings which the malice 
ami rage of his enemies could inflict. 

" Truly, saith Archbishop Leighton, it is not fo- 
reign power, so much as sin at home, that ruins king- 
doms. All the winds that blow without the earth, be 
they never so violent, stir it not, only that which is 
within its own bowels makes an earthquake. It was 
a grave answer of Epaminondas, being asked what he 
was doing solitary and pensive in the time of mirth 
ami feasting] " While my countrymen (says he) are 
so peaceably feasting, I am thinking on the best 
means to preserve that peace to them, that it may 
continue." 

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370 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

But here can we forget one who laid out himself; 
yea, actually laid down his life, not for a country, a 
kingdom, a nation, but for innumerable multitudes of 
all kindreds, nations, and tongues. Blessed Redeemer, 
may I never forget thy compassion ; but while me- 
mory holds a seat, may I bear in mind thy bleeding 
love and sovereign grace. 






November 3. 

John xviii. 36. My kingdom is not of this world. 

Henry VIII. constituted supreme head of the 
Church of England, 1534. The occasion of it was 
this. Having privately married Anne Boleyne, his 
wife Catharine Parr was abandoned by him. The 
Pope having published a sentence, declaring Queen 
Catharine alone to be Henry's lawful wife, and re- 
quiring him to take her again, with a denunciation of 
censures in case of refusal, Henry was determined 
to- reject his mandate; and no longer delayed his 
meditated scheme of separating entirely from the 
Church of Rome. The Parliament was at his de- 
votion ; the majority of the clergy was for him, as 
they had already declared against the Pope, by de- 
creeing in favour of the divorce; and the people, 
above all, wished to see the church humbled, which 
had so long controlled at pleasure, and grown opu- 
lent by their labours and distresses. Thus all things 
conspiring to co-operate with his designs, he at once 
ordered himself to be declared by his clergy the su- 
preme head of the church ; the Parliament confirm- 
ed the title, abolished all authority of the Pope in 
England, voted all tributes formerly paid to the holy 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 371 

see as illegal, and intrusted the king with the colla- 
tion to all ecclesiastical benefices. The nation came 
into the king's measures with joy, and took an oath, 
called the oath of supremacy ; all the credit of the 
Pope, that had subsisted for ages, was now at once 
overthrown, and none seemed to repine at the revo- 
lution, except those that were immediately interested 
by their dependence on the court of Rome. 

Fisher was a prelate eminent for his learning and 
morals; but so firmly attached to antient opinions, 
that he was thrown into prison, and deprived of his 
ecclesiastical revenues, so that he had scarce even 
rags to cover him in his severe confinement. He was 
soon after indicted for denying the king's supremacy, 
condemned and beheaded. Sir Thomas More also 
met the same fate. This extraordinary man, who 
was one of the revivers of antient literature, and in- 
contestably the foremost writer of his age, had, for 
some time, refused to act in subserviency to the ca- 
pricious passions of the king. Being put into con- 
finement, no entreaties, no arguments could prevail 
with him to speak an entire acknowledgement of the 
justice of the king's claims. One Rich, who was 
then solicitor-general, was sent to confer with him ; 
and in his presence he was inveigled to say, that any 
question with regard to the law which established 
that prerogative, was like a two-edged sword; if a 
person answered one way, it would confound his 
soul ; if another, it would destroy his body. These 
words were sufficient for the base informer to hang 
an accusation upon ; and as trials at that time were 
but mere formalities, the jury gave sentence against 
More, who long expected his fate. His natural 
cheerfulness attended him to the last ; when he was 
mounting the scaffold, he said to one, " Friend, help 
me up ; and when I go down again, let me shift for 
myself. ' The executioner asking him forgiveness, 
he granted the request, but told him, " You will ne- 



372 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 






ver get credit by beheading me, my neck is so short." 
Then laying his head on the block, he bid the execu- 
tioner stay till he had put aside his beard, for, said 
he, that has never committed treason. 

This supremacy of the church has been denied 
and opposed by many. Bishop Hoadly preached 
from the above words before George I. in which he 
set aside the notion of a visible head. Christ alone, 
according to him, is the Head of the Church. Hoad- 
ly being at that time Bishop of Bangor, it was called 
the Bangorian Controversy. 



November 4. 

1 Ckron. xxix. 26. O Lord our God, all tin's store that we 
have prepared to build thee an house for thine holy name, 
cometh of thine hand, and is all thine own. 

On this day, in the year 1794, was held the first 
meeting of the Missionary Society. Its progress and 
success are too well known to detail them here. We 
may remark, however, that the cause of God is ever 
dear to a good man. Nothing is more delightful to 
him than to witness its prosperity. Whether it be in 
building him a house; sending missionaries to the 
heathen ; circulating religious tracts ; relieving the 
poor ; visiting the sick ; or instructing the ignorant, 
he thinks it an honour to lend a helping hand. He 
knows he is nothing but what grace has made him, 
and possesses nothing but what he has received from 
above. He is therefore desirous of dedicating him- 
self to the glory of his Divine Lord and Master, and 
as far as ability is given him, to contribute to the ge- 
neral good. We have a fine practical comment on 
the above text in the following circumstance. An 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 373 

unknown friend sent a letter to the Treasurer of the 
Missionary Society, in which was written this line, 

1 Chron. xxix. 28. 
inclosing a bank note, value Fifty Pounds. 

Some of the opulent, whom God hath so greatly 
favoured, we hope, will follow this example. It is 
an admirable way of expounding Scripture, and we 
should rejoice to see a host of such practical com- 
mentators. 

On this day, 1688, it is said, William, the brave 
Prince of Orange landed at Torbay in Devonshire, 
and effected the glorious revolution ; though some 
say it was the fifth. It is placed on the fourth in our 
Almanacks; the fourth also was his birth day; and 
also the day of his marriage. Among the blessings 
which endear the memory of King William III. it 
should never be forgotten, that to him is due the 
first act of toleration known in the history of this 
country ; and the Dissenters have ever since enjoyed 
the benefits of it without interruption, though their 
liberties were greatly endangered in the latter end of 
Queen Anne's reign. The Tory party having at that 
period gained great strength and influence at court, 
passed an iniquitous Act called the Schism Bill, which 
suffered no Dissenters to educate their own children. 
The death of the Queen, on the very day on which 
the infamous act was to have taken place, prevented 
the Dissenters from being again enslaved. George 
I. a firm friend to civil and religious liberty, procured 
a repeal of the odious Schism Bill, in the 5th year of 
his reign. 

Happy for us, we have lived to see still greater 
clays of liberty than even what were so happily effect- 
ed by this illustrious prince. 



374 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 



November 5. 

Psalm xxxvi. 4. He deviseth mischief upon his bed ; he set- 

teth himself in a way that is not good. 
Psalm xxxvii 33, 40. But the Lord will not leave us in his 

hand, but help us and deliver us from the wicked. 

The gunpowder plot discovered 1605. The Ro- 
man Catholics formed a resolution of destroying, the 
King and both Houses of Parliament at a blow. The 
scheme was first broached by Catesbv, a gentleman 
of good parts and autient family, who conceived that 
a train of gunpowder might be so placed under the 
Parliament House, as to blow up the king and mem- 
bers at once. He opened his intention to Thomas 
Percy, a descendant from the illustrious house of 
Northumberland, who was charmed with the project, 
and readily came into it. Thomas Winter was next 
intrusted with the dreadful secret; and he went over 
to Flanders in quest of Guy Fawkes, an officer in 
the Spanish service, with whose zeal and courage the 
conspirators were thoroughly acquainted. 

They therefore seized the opportunity of hiring a 
place under the Parliament House, and bought the 
coals with which it was then stored, as if for their 
own use. The next thing done was to convey thn 
ther six barrels of gunpowder which had been pur- 
chased in Holland, and the whole was covered with 
coals, and with faggots brought for that purpose. 
Then the doors of the cellar were boldly flung open, 
and every body admitted as if it contained nothing 
dangerous. 

Sir Henry Percy, one of the conspirators, con- 
ceived a design of saving the life of Lord Mount* 
eagle, his intimate friend and companion, who alsa 
was of the same opinion as himself, and wrote him a 
letter to this effect: 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 375 

" My lord, stay away from this parliament ; for 
God and man have concurred to punish the wicked- 
ness of the times. And think not slightly of this 
advertisement, but retire yourself into your country, 
where you may expect the event in safety. For 
though there be no appearance of any stir, yet I say 
they will receive a terrible blow this parliament ; and 
yet they shall not see who hurts them. This council 
is not to be contemned ; because it may do you good, 
and can do you no harm. For the danger is past as 
soon as you have burned the letter." 

About midnight, therefore, Sir Thomas Kennet, a 
justice of the peace, was sent with proper attend- 
ants, and just at the entrance of the vault, he seized 
a man preparing for the terrible enterprise, dressed 
in a cloak and boots, and a dark lantern in his hand. 
This was no other than Guy Fawkes, who had just 
disposed every part of the train for its taking fire the 
next morning ; the matches and other combustibles 
being found in his pockets. The whole of the de- 
sign was now discovered ; but the atrociousness of 
his guilt, and despair of pardon, inspiring him with 
resolution, he told the officers of justice, with an un- 
daunted air, that had he blown them and himself up 
together, he had been happy, Before the counsel 
he displayed the same intrepid firmness, mixed even 
with scorn and disdain ; refusing to discover his as- 
sociates, and shewing no concern but for the failure 
of his enterprise. But his bold spirit was at length 
subdued ; being confined in the tower for two or 
three days, and the rack just shewn him, his cou- 
rage, fatigued with so long an effort, at last failed 
him, and he made a full discovery of all his accom- 
plices. Such was the end of a conspiracy that 
brought ruin on its contrivers, and utterly supplanted 
that religion it was intended to establish. 



276 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

November 6. 

Isaiah xlii. 8. And my glory will I not give to another. 

Gustavus Abolphus, King of Sweden, died 
1832. He was the most illustrious hero of his time, 
and the great supporter of the protestant interest in 
Germany. He perished in the midst of a complete 
victors at Lutzen, in his 38th year. It is said he was 
remarkable for prefacing his victories with prayer. 
" The greater the army of prayer is, (he would 
say) the greater and more certain shall be the vic- 
tory ; he that prays diligently hath already in part 
overthrown the enemy/' 

" The persons of the great/' as one observes, 
u are often admired and adored as God ; and there- 
fore God makes them often lower than men> He 
even smites good men when they are idolized. Gus- 
tavus used to say, that he thought God would take 
him off, because men too much admired him. When 
we unduly set men up, God deservedly pulls them 
down/' 

On this day also, 1752, the Rev. Ralph Ers- 
kine died. He could boast of a triumph superior 
to that mentioned above. It is said of him in his last 
moments, that though he had been much tried, yet 
he lifted up his emaciated arm, and cried out " Vic- 
tory/' and then expired. 



November 7. 

JLpu. ii. 13. Bat now in Christ Jesus, ye T-vho sometime* 
were afar off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. 

Three Hottentots, who attended the Mission- 
ary Kickerer to England, were examined public- 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 377 

ly at Miies's Lane Meeting, as to their knowledge of 
the principles of Christianity. How pleasing to ob- 
serve, that all who are taught of God, of whatever 
nation or tongue, adopt the same language as to the 
way of salvation by Christ. The following are some 
of the questions proposed, and the answers given, on 
this occasion, througn the medium of Mr. Kicherer 
as the interpreter. And it is worthy of observation, 
that they had no previous intimation of what was to 
be proposed to them. 

Q. What did you know of God before the Mis- 
sionaries came] A. We knew nothing at all of 
Him ; we did not know there was any God. Q. 
What did you then think of yourself] A. I thought 
I was like a beast; and that when I died, there 
would be an end. Q. What have you since learned 
of yourself] A. I have learned that I am a poor 
wicked creature. Q. How is it possible that Mich a 
wicked creature can be brought into friendship with 
God] A. By the blood of Jesus Christ. Q. But 
why should the blood of Jesus Christ bring you 
into that state] A. Because it was the appointment 
of the Father, that he should bear cur sins; and he 
rose again from the dead, to prove that his death 
was accepted ; so that now God will pardon all our 
sins for his sake. Q. Did you first seek Christ; or, 
did he seek you] A. O! I should never have 
sought him if he had not sought me. Q. Do you 
love the Lord Jesus Christ] A. O yes, 1 do ! but 
not half enough ; I want to love him much more. 
Q. Is sin hateful to yon] A. Yes, I hate it in my 
heart; and yet, for all that, I do sin every day. Q. 
Do you love the commandments of God] A. Yes ; 
i love them much in my heart; but there is some- 
thing within me that keeps me from doing them as I 
would : Jesus Christ has done so much for me, I 
grieve that 1 cannot do more for him. Q. What now 
are your chief desires] A. I wish to give up my 



378 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 






heart entirely to Jesus Christ. Q. Are you thank- 
ful to the Missionary Society for sending mission- 
aries into your country ] A. I am desirous to thank 
God for inclining them to do it; and I would thank 
them too, but I know not how to do it, for want of 
words. Q. Do you think that Christ will correct 
his children when they offend him ; or will he cast 
them quite away ? A. He will correct them, but not 
throw them away. — He who loved me from all eter- 
nity, knew before how bad I should be ; but that 
did not ^hinder him from loving me; and it is now 
impossible he should cease to love me. Q. What 
will you do when you go back to Africa? A.I 
will tell all the people in my country what a great 
many friends there are in England who love them ; 
and how much they do pray for them. Q. Have 
you any thing to say to the unconverted people in 
this congregation ? A. Yes, I would wish them to 
run to Jesus immediately. Oh ! it would be a pity, 
if they who hear of Christ every day should neglect 
him ; and if they should see us poor heathens, who 
have run to Christ, admitted into heaven, and they 
themselves be thrust down into hell ! — O it would 
be a sad pity. 

These Africans were also publicly examined in 
many other places, to the admiration and astonish- 
ment of great multitudes. What arguments are 
these for missionary exertions, and what reason is 
there for gratitude that Ethiopia is beginning to 
stretch out her hand unto God. 

On this day, 1790, expired the benevolent John 
Thornton, Esq. of Clapham. He was not only 
one of the greatest merchants in Europe, but one of 
the most distinguished Christians. His liberality 
was unbounded ; and his exertions to go good will 
ever be remembered with pleasure. See my Anec- 
dotes, vol. i. article Beneficence. 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 379 



November 8. 

Matt. iv. 4 3 But he answered and said, It is written, man 
shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that pro- 
ceedeth out of the mouth of God. 

The great Milton died 1674. His application 
of the above passage, in relation to his blindness, is 
truly worthy of notice. " I have made up my 
mind," says he, " to my case, as one evidently beyond 
the reach of cure ; and I often reflect, that as many 
days of darkness, according to the wise man, are al- 
lotted to us all, mine, which, by the singular plea- 
sure of Deity, are divided between leisure and 
studv, are recreated by the conversation and inter- 
course of my friends, are far more agreeable than 
those deadly shades of which Solomon is speaking. 
But if, as it is written, ' Man shall not live by bread 
alone, but by every word that proceed eth out of the 
mouth of God/ why should not each of us likewise 
acquiesce in the reflection, that he receives the be- 
nefits of sight not from his eyes alone, but from the 
guidance and providence of the same Supreme Being. 
Whilst He looks out, and provides for me as he does, 
and leads me about, as it were, with his hand, through 
the paths of life, I willingly surrender my own fa- 
culty of vision in conformity to his good pleasure." 
See Dec. 9. 



November 9. 

Luke xxii. 30. That ye may eat and drink, at my table in 
my kingdom. 

This is the day fixed for the inauguration of the 
chief magistrate of the city of London, on which oc> 



380 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 






casion a grand procession is made, and a civic feast 
provided. Let the Christian be reminded of a 
higher privilege than that of enjoying an earthly 
banquet. He is invited to a better table, and shall 
partake of greater honours than the world can be- 
stow. Intercourse with God is his richest feast, 
and the anticipation of future blessedness hi highest 

joy- 
it is said of Ingo, an antient king of the Draves, 
that on a certain occasion he made a stately feast ; 
and appointed his nobles, at that time Pagans, to sit 
in the Hail below, and commanded certain poor 
Christians to be brought up into his presence cham- 
ber to sit with him at his table, to eat and drink of 
his kingly entertainment ; at which many wonder- 
ing, he said, " He accounted Christians, though ever 
so poor, a greater ornament at his table, and more 
worthy of his company, than the greatest peers un- 
converted to the Christian faith ; for when these 
might be thrust down to hell, those might be his 
consorts and fellow princes in heaven/' Thus doth 
He who is the King of kings, delight more in the 
people of his choice, however humble, poor, and 
mean in this world, than in all the wise, and rich, 
and great in the universe who are strangers to him. 
" He taketh pleasure in them that fear him ; be will 
beautify the meek with salvation. He will guide 
them with his council, and afterwards receive them 
to glory." 



November 10. 



1 JoTiN iii. 23. This is his command, that we should believe 
on the name of his Son Jesus Christ. 

The celebrated Luther born 1483. It is no 
uncommon thing for those who are to be employed 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 381 

in great and important services in the cause of God 
and truth, to be themselves the subjects of fiery 
trial, that they may be the more fitted for their 
work. Luther, at a certain time, was violently har- 
rassed and arHicted with temptation ; insomuch that 
his heart was rent with anguish, and tears streamed 
from his eyes, and his breath was spent in sighing. 
Amidst these pangs of distress, a person accosted 
him with the following words, <v My son, why dost 
thou mourn? Dost thou not know that God hath 
commanded thee to believe V 9 " When I heard that 
word commanded/' says the zealous reformer, " it 
prevailed more on my heart than all that I heard, or 
read, or thought on before/' 

He acknowledged that he did not understand 
some scriptures till he was in affliction ; and that he 
was never employed in any new thing but thdt he 
was beset with some temptation, or visited with a fit 
of sickness. See Feb 18, May 2. and Nov. 2. 



November 11. 



John xiv. 57 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give 
unto you : not as the world giveih, g;ive I unio you. Let 
cot your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. 



This day, 1623, died the celebrated Philip de 
Mornay, Lord Plessis, aged 74 The Protes- 
tants in France never hatl an abler supporter. He 
was so strenuous in their cause, that his enemies 
called him the Pope of the Hugonots. He said, 
with an air of cheerfulness, just before his death, " I 
am arrived ai the height of comfort, since I die with 
the assurance of leaving peace among my children." 
Such was the joy of De Mornay. But what was the 



382 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

joy of him who endured the cross, despised the 
shame, aud finished the work given him to do, in 
order that he might leave peace among his children. 
And what blessing equal to this ] — Are riches, plea- 
sures, fame, knowledge, prosperity, desirable? Be- 
hold peace with God, peace in the conscience peace 
for ever, outweighs them all ! 



November 12. 

Gal vi. 9, 10. Let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due 
season we shall reap if we faint not. As we have therefore 
opportunity, let us do good unto all. 

The Rev. Richakd Baxter born 1615. He 
was a most laborious and useful divine, and his 
whole conduct was one continued commentary on 
the above words. We are told by Dr. Calamy, that, 
from the age of twenty-one to twenty-three, he lived 
constantly, as it were, in the shadow of death ; and, 
rinding his own soul under serious apprehensions of 
the matters of another world, he was very desirous 
to communicate those apprehensions to such igno- 
rant careless, presumptuous sinners as the world 
abounds with. 

His pieces are very numerous, amounting to a 
hundred and forty five distinct treatises: four folios, 
seventy-tree quartos, forty-nine octavos, and nine- 
teen in twelves, and twenty-fours, besides single 
sheets, separate sermons, and at least five and twenty 
prefaces before other men's writings. 

Speaking of his residence at Kidderminster, Dr. 
Bates says that there Mr. Baxter's ministry, by the 
divine influence, was of admirable efficacy. The 
harvest answered the seed that was sowed. Be- 
fore his coming, the place was like a piece of dry 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 38S 

and barren earth, only ignorance and profaneness, 
as natives of the soil, were rife among them ; but by 
the blessing of Heaven upon his labour and cultivat- 
ing, the face of paradise appeared there in all the 
fruits of righteousness. Many were translated from 
the state of polluted nature to the state of grace ; 
and many were advanced to higher degrees of holi- 
ness. The bad were changed to good, and the good 
to better. 

His " Everlasting Rest" was written when lan- 
guishing in the suspense of life and death, but has 
the signatures of his holy and vigorous mind. To 
allure our desires, he unveils the sanctuary above, 
and discovers the glory and joy of the blessed in the 
divine presence, by a light so strong and lively, that 
all the glittering vanities of this world vanish in that 
comparison, and a sincere believer will despise them, 
as one of mature age does the toys and baubles of 
children. To excite our fear, he removes the 
screen, and makes the everlasting fire of hell so vi- 
sible, and represents the tormenting passions of the 
damned in those dreadful colours, that, if duly con- 
sidered, check and controul the unbridled licentious 
ttppetites of the most sensual wretches. 

His "Call to the Unconverted/' how small in 
bulk, but how powerful in virtue! Truth speaks in 
it with that authority and efficacy, that it makes the 
reader lay his hand upon his heart, and find he has 
a soul and a conscience, though he lived before as 
if he had none. He told some friends that six bro- 
thers were converted by reading that Call; and that 
every week he received letters of some converted by 
his books. This he spake with most humble thank- 
fulness, that God was pleased to use him as an in- 
strument for the salvation of souls. Indeed, love to 
the souls of men was the peculiar character of Mr. 
Baxter's spirit. In this be imitated and honoured 
our Saviour, who prayed, died, and lives for sal- 



384 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

\ation of souls. All his natural and supernatural 
endowments were subservient to this blessed end. It 
was his meat and drink, the life and joy of his life, 
to do good to souls. His industry was almost in- 
credible in his studies: he had a sensitive nature, 
desirous of ease, as others have : yet, such was the 
continual application of himself to this great work, 
as if the labour of one day had supplied strength for 
another, and the willingness of the spirit had sup- 
ported the weakness of the flesh. In his usual con- 
versation, his serious, frequent, and delightful dis- 
course was of divine things, to inflame his friends 
with the love of heaven. 

Not long after his last sermon, he felt the ap- 
proaches of death, and was confined to his sick bed. 
Death reveals the secrets of the heart : then words 
are spoken with most feeling and least affectation. 
This excellent saint was the same in his death as in 
his life. His last hours were spent in preparing 
others and himself to appear before God. He said 
to his friends that visited him, " You come hither to 
learn to die, I am not the only person that must go 
this way; I can assure you that your whole life, be 
it never so long, is little enough to prepare for death. 
Have a care of this vain deceitful world, and the 
lusts of the flesh. Be sure you choose God for your 
portion, heaven for your home, Gods glory for your 
en(.] 9 his word for your rule, and then you need never 
fear but we shall meet with comfort.'' 

After a slumber, he waked and said, " I shall rest 
from my labour." A minister then present said, 
" and your works follow you." To whom he re- 
plied, " No works ; I will leave works out, if God 
will grant me the other. " Win n a friend was com- 
forting him with the remembrance of the good which 
many iwd received by his preaching and his writings, 
he said, " I was but a pen in Gods hand, and what 
praise is due to a pen V His resigned submission to 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 385 

the will of God in his sharp sickness was eminent. 
When extremity of pain constrained him earnestly 
to pray to God for his release by death, he would 
check himself — " It is not fit for me to prescribe f 
and said, " When thou wilt — what thou wilt—how 
thou wilt." Being often asked by his friends, how 
it was with his inward man, he replied, "I bless 
God I have a well-grounded assurance of my eternal 
happiness, and great peace and comfort within ;" but 
it was his trouble he could not triumphantly express 
it, by reason of his extreme pains. He said, " Flesh 
Steust perish, and we must feel the perishing of it : 
and that though his judgment submitted, yet sense 
would still make him groan." Being asked by a person 
of quality, " Whether he had not great joy from his 
believing apprehensions of the invisible state V he 
replied, " What else, think you, Christianity serves 
for ?" He said, " The consideration of the Deity in 
his glory and greatness was too high for our 
thoughts ; but the consideration of the Son of God 
in our nature, and of the saints in heaven, whom he 
knew and loved, did much sweeten and familiarize 
heaven to him." He expressed a great willingness to 
die; and during his sickness, when the question was 
asked, how he did, his answer was, " Almost well." 
His joy was remarkable when, in his own apprehen- 
sions, death was the nearest ; and his spiritual joy 
at length, was consummated in eternal joy. 

The stone which was generated in his kidneys, 
and which he sustained there above fifty years, is 
preserved in the British Museum. It is a large blue 
pebble, very much resembling the shape of a kidney 
itself. Mr. Grainger thus speaks of him : " A man 
famous for weakness of body and strength of mind." 
He died Dec* 8, 1691, in his 76th year. g 



380 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

November 13. 

Psalm xxv. 21 Let integrity and uprightness preserve me* 

George Fox, the founder of Quakerism, died 
1600. He was born at Drayton in Leicestershire, 
in the year 1624. To propagate his system, he 
journied over England, Scotland, and Wales ; was 
in Ireland ; visited the British West Indies, and 
America ; and extended his travels to Holland, and 
part of Germany. In his manner of living he was 
temperate, eating sparingly, avoiding, except medi- 
cinally, all strong drink, and allowing himself but 
little sleep. In his outward demeanour, he was mo- 
dest, affable, and courteous ; in his disposition, meek 
and tender ; kind to the poor, without any excep- 
tion, and universally benevolent. With respect to 
his word, he was known to have held it so sacred, 
that the judges frequently dismissed him without 
bail, on his bare promise that he would be forth- 
coming on a given day, to take his trial for the 
charges brought against him by his persecutors. It 
is thought probable, that he was the first person who 
publicly declared against the iniquity of the slave 
trade; and his followers have been long uuanimous 
upon this subject. 

However objectionable some of the tenets of the 
Quakers m?y appear, we rejoice to find them com- 
ing forth so laudably to countenance the circulation 
of the Bible. In tlieir Epistle from the Yearly 
Meeting, held m London 1813, to the Friends in ge- 
neral, they make the following observations, 

" Among the numerous benevolent undertakings 
which now interest the minds of our countrymen, we 
contemplate, with much satisfaction, the general cir- 
culation of the Holy Scriptures. Our sense of that 
inestimable treasure has been frequently acknow- 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 38T 

ledged ; and we feel ourselves engaged to call the 
attention of such of our members as may be employ- 
ed in this salutary work, to the supreme importance 
of giving heed to that Divine Word to which the 
Scriptures bare testimony. This Word is Christ. 
If we are earnest to obey the teachings of this un- 
erring guide, we shall be led to cry to the Lord, that 
he would preserve us from self-exaltation, from at- 
tributing to ourselves or others that honour which is 
due to him alone. We shall be on our guard lest we 
mistake our proper sphere of usefulness, or suffer 
any pursuit, however laudable in itself, to divert us 
from our true allotment of labour in the church. 
This watchfulness unto prayer can alone ensure our 
growth in religious experience, and our establish- 
ment in every good word and work." 

As this body do not think proper to pay taxes for 
the war, or for the support of an ecclesiastical esta- 
blishment, their goods are distrained to pay the 
same. " The amount of sufferings," say they, 
" brought in this year (1813) [is upwards of fifteen 
thousand four hundred and seventy pounds ; a small 
portion of this sum has been taken for military pur- 
poses ; but the greater part was incurred in the sup- 
port of our ancient Christian testimony against 
tithes, and other demands of an ecclesiastical na- 
ture." 



November 14. 

1 Pet. iii. 8. Whose adorning, let it not be that outward 
adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of 
putting on of apparel. 

Too much attention has been paid to dress in all 
ages; but the accounts given us of some, prove the 
height and extravagance of folly. Jewels made a 
S 2 



338 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

part of the ornaments with which the Jews, Greeks, 
and Romans, especially their ladies of distinction, 
adorned themselves. So prodigious was the extra- 
vagance of the Roman lidies in particular, that Pliny 
the elder says he saw Lollio Paulina with an equi- 
page of this kind amounting, according to Dr. Ar- 
buthnot's calculation, to £322,916 : 13s. Ad. of our 
money. At the splendid entertainment that Prince 
Potemkin gave to the late Empress of Russia, at Pe- 
tersburgh, in 1791, the jewels worn by 48 young 
persons belonging to the court, who performed a 
ballet, were estimated at a million sterling ! Here 
are affecting instances of luxury in dress, and it 
would be well if our own country were exempt from 
the charge. But what saith our holy religion on 
this point? " Let it not be outward adorning; but 
let be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is 
not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and 
quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great 
price." After all, however, we need not run into 
the opposite extreme ; while luxury is to be avoided, 
singularity is not to be praised; for as there may be 
much pride in dress, so there may be some pride in 
the neglect of it. Antisthenes, the philosopher, sold 
his all, 2nd preserved only a very ragged coat, which 
drew the attention of Socrates, and tempted him to 
say to the cynic, who carried his contempt of dress 
too far, " Antisthenes, I see thy vanity through the 
holes in thy coat." 



November 15. 

Genesis xlix IS. I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord. 

The Rev. J. Milner of Hull died 1797. Many 
Christians are so anxious for sensible comforts, that 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 389 

they seem lo live by sight and feeling, rather than 
by faith. In the experience, however, of the late 
Mr. Joseph Milner, we have a striking instance to 
the contrary. He continued labouring to advance 
the Redeemer's kingdom to the 54th year of his age, 
27 years after his conversion. He just lived to re- 
ceive that very ample and decisive testimony of 
esteem which was shewn to him by the mayor and 
corporation of Hull. Upon the decease of the Rev. 
Mr. T. Clark, he was chosen vicar, almost unani- 
mously ; but he survived that event only a few 
weeks. His health had for years been declining. 
When questions were directly put to him in pros- 
pect of death, little more could ever be drawn from 
him than — " I cannot say much ! Most probably, 
my dissolution is at no great distance. There was a 
time when I should have been very unhappy to have 
had so little of sensible comfort; but I have seen 
reason to believe, that one of the most acceptable 
exercises of the true Christian's faith, consists in pa- 
tiently w r aiting God's time, and in relying confident- 
ly on the written word. For many years I have 
been endeavouring to live from day to day as a pen- 
sioner on God's bounty. I learn to trust him, and 
lie sends the manna without fail!" 



November 16. 

Heb. ix. 27. It is appointed unto men once to die. 

* Dr. Hawkesworth, a popular and pleasing 
writer, died 1773. On a handsome marble monu- 
ment to his memory, at Bromley in Kent, the place 
of his nativity, are these lines, " The hour is hast- 
ing, in which, whatever praise or censure i have ac- 
quired, will be remembered with equal indifference-*-**. 
S S 



390 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

Time, who is impatient to date my last paper, will 
shortly moulder the hand, which is now writing, in 
the dust, and still the breast that now throbs at the 
reflection. But let not this be read as something 
that relates only to another; for a few years only 
can divide the eye that is now reading, from the hand 
that has written ." 

In reading the epitaphs, and surveying the monu- 
ments of others, we should reflect on our own mor* 
tality. And not only reflect, but also prepare for 
the last scene, so that when it arrives, we may meet 
it without dismay. The antient Egyptians are said 
to have placed a skull upon the table at their most 
splendid banqnets, in order to remind the guests of 
their mortality. Socrates disregarded the interces- 
sion of his friends, and when it was in his power to 
make his escape out of prison, he refused it, and 
asked, with his usual pleasantry, where he could 
escape death. ** Where/' says he to Crito, who had 
bribed the goater, and made his escape certain, 
" Where shall I fly to avoid this irrevocable doom 
passed on all mankind V Reader, remember this, 
whatever you escape, where will you go to avoid 
death. How necessary then to seek the favour of 
Him who alone can support in that moment, and 
grace alone can prepare for the awful event. Seek 
then the Lord while he may be found, and call upou 
him while he is near. 



November 17. 

1 Kings xviii. 4. Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord. 

2 Kings ix. 37. And the carcase of Jezebel shall be as the 
dung upon the face of the field. 

The sanguinary and tyrannical Queen Mary died 
1558, in the 43d year of her age. She was strongly 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. S9i 

feigotted to tire popish superstitions, having been bred 
up among churchmen, and having been taught to 
prefer martyrdom to a denial of belief. As she had 
lived in continual restraint, she was reserved and 
gloomy ; she had, even during the life of her father, 
the resolution to maintain her sentiments, and re- 
fused to comply with his new institutions. Her zeal 
had rendered her furious ; and she was not only 
blindly attached to her religious opinions, but even 
to the popish clergy, who maintained them. Mary 
was morose, and a bigot; she was resolved to give 
back their former powers to the clergy, and thus 
once more to involve the kingdom in all the horrors 
it had just emerged from. Gardiner, Bonner, Tons- 
tal, Day, Heath, and Vesey, who had been confined 
or suffered losses for their catholic opinions, during 
the late reigns, were taken from prison, reinstated iu 
their sees, and their former sentences repealed. 

The old sanguinary laws were now revived, which 
had been rejected by a former parliament. Order* 
were given that the bishops and priests who had 
married should be ejected ; that the mass should be 
restored ; that the Pope's authority should be esta- 
blished ; and that the church and its privileges, ail 
the goods and estates, should be put upon the same 
foundation on which they were before the commence- 
tnent of the reformation. 

This, as might be expected, was attended with 
bloody effects ; whole crowds were executed, till 
even at last the very magistrates, who had been in- 
strumental in these cruelties, refused to lend their 
assistance, ft was computed that, during this per- 
secution, two hundred and seventy-seven persons suf- 
fered by fire, beside those punished by imprisonment, 
fines, and confiscation. The consciousness of being 
hated by her subjects, the prospects of Elizabeth's 
succession, whom she hated, and above all, her an- 
xiety for the loss of her husband, who never intended 
S4 



392 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 






to return, all these preyed upon her mind, and threw 
her into a lingering fever, of which she died after a 
short and unfortunate reign of five years, four 
months, and eleven days. 



November 18. 

Micah vii. 9. I will bear the indignation of the Lord, be- 
cause I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, 
and execute judgment for me : he will bring me forth t# 
the light, and I shall behold his righteousness. 

The Galley Slave liberated* 

A German prince, travelling through France, vi- 
sited the arsenal at Toulon, where the gallies are 
kept. The commandant, as a compliment' to his 
rank, said he was welcome to set any one galley-slave 
at liberty whom he should choose to select. The 
prince, willing to make the best use of this privilege, 
spoke to many of them in succession, inquiring why 
they were condemned to the gallies. Injustice, op- 
pression, false accusation, were the only causes they 
could assign : they were all innocent and ill-treated. 
At last he came to one, who, when he asked the ques- 
tion, answered to this effect, " My lord, I have no 
reason to complain. I have been a very wicked des- 
perate wreteh : I have often deservea to be broken 
alive on the wheel. 1 account it a great mercy that 
I am here. The prince fixed his eyes upon him, 
gave him a gentle blow upon his head, and said, 
" You wicked wretch, it is a pity you should be 
placed among so many honest men. By your owu 
confession, you are bad enough to corrupt them all ; 
but you shall not stay with them another day/* 
Then turning to the officer, he said, " This is the 
man, Sir, whom I wish to be released." 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 393 

Was not this a wise decision ? Must not all who 
heat this account allow, that the man who was so 
sensible of his guilt, and so submissive to his punish- 
ment, was, in all probability, the most deserving of 
pardon, and the most likely not to abuse it]" 



November 19. 

Matt. vi. 26. Behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not, 
neither do they reap, nor gather into barns ; yet your hea- 
venly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than 
they? 

The Rev. Mr. Nosworthy died 1677, aged 66. 
He was an amiable and excellent man ; but, through 
the bigotry and persecuting spirit of the times, was 
driven from his home, and imprisoned at Winchester, 
where he met with cruel usage. In his march from 
one of the prisons to another, his hands were so fast 
bound with a cord that the blood burst out at the 
tops of his fingers. After he was released, he was 
several times reduced to great straits. Once, when 
he and his family had breakfasted, and had nothing 
left for another meal, his wife lamented her condi- 
tion, and said, " What shall I do with my poor chil- 
dren 1 " He persuaded her to walk abroad with him, 
and seeing a little bird, he said, " Take notice how 
that bird sits and chirps ; though we cannot tell whe- 
ther it has been at breakfast, and if it has, it knows 
not whither to go for a dinner. Therefore, be of 
good cheer, and do not distrust the providence of 
God ; for are we not better than many sparrows ] " 
Before dinner time they had plenty of provisions 
brought them. Thus was the promise fulfilled — 
" They who trust in the Lord shall not want any 
good thing/' 

S 5 



304 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 



November 20. 

John xiv. 2, 3. In my Father's house are many mansions ; 
if it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a 
place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, 
I will come again and receive you unto myself? that where 
I am, there ye may be also. 

Heaven a Home. 

Mr. Richard Turner, minister of Preston, 
near Brighton, died 1680. He welcomed the ap- 
proach of death with great tranquillity, and said, 
" Now I have but a few steps to my father's house/' 
The following instances will shew us how this idea 
has been recognised by other good men. 

The Rev. Matthew Mead being asked how he 
did, he said, " Going home, as every good man ought, 
when his work is done/' 

The Rev. Thomas Danby lived so much above 
the world, had such sweet converse with God, such 
an heavenly rest of soul in Christ, and satisfaction 
concerning the favour of God through him for eter- 
nal life, that he would often say, " I long to be at 
home." 

Dr. Rowland Taylor, when drawing near the 
town of Hadley in Suffolk, where he had been a 
minister, and was now going to be a martyr, being 
asked how he did, answered, " Never better ; for 
now I know that I am almost at home/' And look- 
ing over the meadow between him and the place 
where he was to be immediately burnt, he said, 
*' Only two styles more to get over, and I am at my 
Father's house/' 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 395 



November 21. 

2 Tim. iv. IT. Notwithstanding, the Lord stood with me, 
and strengthened me — and 1 was delivered out of the mouth 
of the lion. 



John Bale, Bishop of Ossory, in Ireland, born 
1495. He was educated in the Romish religion, 
but became afterwards a Protestant. " I wandered," 
says he, " in utter ignorance and blindness of mind 
both there (Norwich) and at Cambridge, having no 
tutor or patron ; till the word of God shining forth, 
the churches began to return to the pure foundations 
of true divinity. In which bright rising of the new 
Jerusalem, being not called by any monk or priest, 
but seriously stirred up by the illustrious Lord Went" 
worth, as by that centurion who declared Christ to 
be the Son of God, I presently saw and acknowledged 
my own deformity, and immediately, through the di- 
vine goodness, I was removed from a barren moun- 
tain to the flowery and fertile valley of the gospel, 
where I found all things built, not on the sand, but 
on a solid rock. Hence I made haste to deface the 
mark of wicked antichrist, and entirely threw off his 
yoke from me, that I might be partaker of the lot and 
liberty of the sons of God." 

He underwent a variety of persecutions from the 
popish party in Ireland, while he used his utmost en- 
deavours, in preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ in 
its purity, to correct the lewd practices and debauch- 
eries of the priests, to abolish the mass, and to esta- 
blish the use of the new Boole of Common Prayer set 
forth in England, But all bis labours of this kind 
were put a stop to by the death of King Edward and 
the accession of Queen Mary, and himself exposed s® 
much to the rage and fury of the Papists, that his life 
was frequently endangered. Once in particular, 



396 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 






they murdered five of his domestics, vho were mak- 
ing hay in a meadow ~es-' his horise, and would pro- 
bably have attempted the same upon him, if the go- 
vernor of Kilkenny, hearing of it, had not come to 
his defence with an hundred horsemen and three hun- 
dred footmen. 

Nor ought it to be forgotten, that he expended the 
whole nearly of his episcopal revenue in acts of piety 
and beneficence. Yet no liberality or goodness 
could stop the rage of his popish adversaries, who 
were implacably offended at his preaching the doc- 
trines of the gospel, and at the success which God 
was pleased to give it. On the accession of Queen 
Elizabeth, he returned to England, but not to his 
bishopric in Ireland, contenting himself with a pre- 
bend of Canterbury, to which he was promoted the 
fifteenth of January, 1560, and in which city he died, 
In November 1563, being then in the 68th year of 
his age, and was buried in the cathedral of that 
place. 



November 22. 

Matt. v. 44. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless 
them that curse you \ do good to them that hate you, and 
pray for them who despitefully use you. 

Archbishop Tillotson died this day, 1694. 
Some place it on the 24th. Bishop Burnett observes 
of him, that he was a man of the truest judgment and 
best temper he had ever known. He had a clear 
head with a tender and compassionate heart. He was 
a faithful and zealous friend, but a gentle and soon 
coquered enemy." After his death, it is said that 
a bundle of papers was found in his scrutoire, in- 
dorsed with these words in his own hand, " These 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 397 

are libels, I pray God to forgive the authors of them ? 
I do/' In one of his sermons on the necessity of 
considering our ways, he gives the following rela- 
tion : 

" To show/' says he, " what power and influence 
consideration will probably have to bring men to re- 
pentance, and a change of their lives, I remember to 
have somewhere met with a remarkable account of 
one that had a son who took bad courses, and would 
not be reclaimed by all the good counsel that his 
faher could give him ; at last coming to his father, 
who lay upon his death-bed, to beg his blessing, his 
father, instead of upbraiding him with his bad life 
and undutiful carriage toward him, spoke kindly to 
him, and told him he had but one thing to desire of 
him, that every day he would retire and spend one 
quarter of an hour alone ; which he promised his fa* 
ther faithfully to do. After a while, it grew tedious 
to him to spend even so little time in such bad and 
uneasy company ; and he began to bethink himself, 
for what reason his father should so earnestly desire 
of him to do so odd a thing for his sake, and his 
mind preseiitly*suggested to him, that it was to en- 
force him to consideration ; wisely judging, that if 
by any means he could bring him to that, he would 
soon reform his life and become a new man. And 
the thing had its desired effect ; for after a very little 
consideration, he took up a firm resolution to change 
the course of his life, and was true to it all his days. 
Thus consideration is one of the best and most likely 
means in the world to bring a bad man to a better 
mind." 



W8 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 



November 23. 

Psalm ir. 2. O ye sons of men. how long will ye love vanity 
and seek after leasing ? 

What can be a greater proof of the fallen state of 
man than his aversion from that which is his real in- 
terest, and his delight in that which is injurious to 
his true happiness ? It is not merely that he lives 
in a vain world, but according to the text above, he 
loves vanity. Honour, wealth, pleasure, engage the 
the attention and captivate the hearts of most. And 
yet, after all, what vexation do they leave ; and how 
ill suited either to heal the diseases of the mind, or 
even those of the body. u The crown of gold can- 
not cure the head ache ; nor the velvet slipper the 
gout ; nor can the jewel about the neck take away 
the pain of the teeth. Nagas the Scythian, despis- 
ing the rich presents and ornaments that were sent 
unto him by the emperor of Constantinople, asked 
whether those things could drive away calamities, 
disease or death ]" Chrysostom said once, " That 
if he were the fittest in the world, to preach a sermon 
to the whole world, gathered together into one con- 
gregation, and had some high mountain for his pul- 
pit, from whence he might have the prospect of all 
the world at once, and were furnished with a voice of 
brass, a voice as loud as the trumpet of the arch- 
angel, that all the world might hear him, he would 
choose to preach upon no other text than the above; 
4t O ye sons of men, how long will ye love vanity and 
seek after leasing] * 






PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 29$ 

November 24. 

Psalm cxxi. 5. The Lord is thy keeper. 

The great reformer John Knox died 1572. The 
providences of God relative to the preservation of 
his people, are often wonderful, and call for oar 
admiration and gratitude. The fol. owing is one in- 
stance among many which might he enumerated. 

Mr. Knox was accustomed to sit at the head of the 
table in his own house, with his back to the window, 
yet on a certain night, such was the impression on his 
mind, that he would neither sit in his own chair, nor 
allow any other person to sit in it, but sat on another 
chair with his back to the table. That very night, a 
bullet was shot in at the window purposely to kill 
him ; but the conspirators missed him ; the bullet 
grazed the chair in which he used to sit, lighted on 
the candlestick, and made a hole in the foot of it ; 
which, it is said, is )et to be seen. Thus the Lord 
preserved the life of this eminent reformer. When 
he giveth quietness and safety, who then can make 
trouble ? 



November 25. 

Psalm cxliii. 10. Tea«h me to do thy will, for thou art my 
God. 

Dr. Watts died 1748, in his 75th year. He en- 
joyed the full advantages of an early education. 
About the sixteenth year of his age, and A. D. 1690, 
he was sent up to London, that the academy might 
finish an education so happily begun. His tutor, Mr. 
Thomas Rowe (to whom also the Doctor inscribed 




400 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR, 

an ode, extant in his Lyric Poems) had been heard 
to declare, that he never had occasion to reprimand 
Mr. Watts so much as once, during the whole time 
of his residence in the academy : on the contrary, 
that his behaviour was so correct and exemplary, that 
he often proposed him to the other pupils, as a pat- 
tern worthy of their imitation. 

In the year 1693, when he was but nineteen, he 
was admitted as a communicant by the congregation 
of which his tutor had the pastoral charge. He 
preached his first sermon on his birth-day, July 17, 
.1698, when he completed his 24th year: and was, 
shortly after, chosen assistant preacher to the Inde- 
pendent congregation, of which Dr. Isaac Chauncey 
was the pastor. His pulpit exertions, supposed to 
be more zealous and vehement than his constitution 
could well sustain, were soon followed by a severe 
and menacing illness of five months duration. But 
the ambassador of Christ had not yet finished his ap- 
pointed course, nor fulfilled the work which was 
given him to do. He recovered, and determined, 
through grace, to spend and be spent for God, he 
plied his ministerial labours with as great intenseness 
as before. In 1712, however, he was seized with a 
fever of such violence that almost broke him down, 
and from which he never perfectly recovered. This 
calamitous state made the compassion of his friends 
necessary, and drew upon him the attention of Sir 
Thomas Abney, who received him into his house ; 
where, with a constancy of friendship and uniformity 
of conduct not often to be found, he was treated for 
many years with all the kindness that friendship 
could prompt, and all the attention that respect could 
dictate. Sir Thomas died about eight years after- 
wards ; but he continued with the lady and her 
daughters to the end of his life. The lady died about 
a year after him. Notwithstanding those severe 
constitutional shocks, this faithful servant of Go<| 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 401 

had not, at the time last specified, measured much 
more than half the race he was to run : for his life 
was extended to an additional period of six and thirty 
years. But he could truly say, with the apostle be- 
fore him, "We, who are in this tabernacle, do groan, 
being burdened/' Yet, though he could not help 
feeling his bodily infirmities, he was preserved by 
grace from murmuring under them. He does not 
appear to have entertained one hard thought of God ; 
but lay, at the divine footstool, passive as blank pa- 
per to the hand of the writer, or as softened wax to 
the impressing seal. 

Among many instances which redound exceeding- 
ly to the honour of the Doctor's heart, must be num- 
bered the cordial and uninterrupted friendship which 
obtained between him and his copartner in the mi- 
nistry, the Rev. Samuel Price. Aulus Gellius 
used to wonder how two such elegant magnanimous 
philosophers as Plato and Xenophon could ever de- 
scend to the meanness of depreciating and envying 
each others talents and success What would he 
have said, had he been witness to the low competi- 
tions, the dirty jealousies, the narrow self-seekings, 
and the envious treachery visible m the spirit and 
conduct of some, who pass for christian ministers? 
No such roots of bitterness had any place in the be- 
nevolent and disinterested bosom of Dr. Watts. 
Like the Master he served, he took pleasure in the ex- 
cellencies, the usefulness, and the prosperity of 
others. The words we have chosen for this day 
were truly in unison with the spirit and desires of 
this great man. On feeling any temptations to com- 
plain, he would remark, " The business of a Chris- 
tian is, to bear the will of God, as well as to do it. 
If I were in health, I could only be doing that, and 
that I may do now. The best thing in obedience is 
a regard to the will of God, and the way to that is 



*02 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

to get our inclinations and aversions as much morti- 
fied as we can." See July 5. 



November 26. 

Psalm ctH. 25. For he commanded and raiseth the stor 
wind. 

This day, 1703, began what is usually called the 
great storm, being the most terrible tempest that ever 
happened in England. The loss sustained in Lon- 
don alone was calculated at a million sterling. The 
number of those drowned in the floods of the Severn 
and Thames, and of those who were lost on the coast 
of Holland, and in the ships blown from their an- 
chors and never heard of afterwards, is thought within 
compass to have been 8,000. Trees were torn up by 
the roots. A person affirmed that he counted 17,000 
of this description in Kent. Eddystone lighthouse 
was destroyed, and in it the ingenious contriver of 
it, Winstanley, and the people who were with him. 
Bp. Kidder and his lady were killed at Wells, in So- 
mersetshire. Multitudes of cattle were also lost ; in 
one level 15,000 sheep were drowned. In short, 
this was one of the most violent tempests recorded 
in history since the general deluge. To preserve in 
the minds of serious people, and to awaken in the 
breasts of the inconsiderate, a proper sense of the 
hand of God, as it was displayed in this most tre- 
mendous storm, a Mr. Tayler instituted a yearly reli- 
gious service at the meeting-house in Little Wild 
Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, where a sermon is still 
preached on the 27th of November, to commemorate 
fills direful catastrophe. 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 408 

Let us learn from this awful event, our own insig. 
nificancy. How weak and feeble is man ; and how 
little can he do for his own safety, when the elements 
rise up against him. May we be preserved from the 
wrath of him, who hath said that " upon the wicked 
be will rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an hor- 
rible tempest" 



November 27. 

Romans xiv. 19. Let us therefore follow after the things 
which make for peace. 

The Rev. Thomas Harmer died 1788, at Wat- 
field, or Watchfield, near Bury, in Suffolk, remark- 
ably distinguished for his attainments in oriental li- 
terature, and for his skill in the study of antiquities. 
As the whole purpose of his studies was to elucidate 
the sacred volume, so it was his constant endeavour 
to practice those duties which are therein declared 
to be essential to the forming of a true Christian. He 
was a man of unaffected piety : equally kind as a 
master, parent, and husband ] meek and modest in 
his deportment, and invariably averse from every 
degree of intemperance and excess : all these virtues 
which he so pre-eminently possessed, were still 
heightened by the character of a peace-maker, inso- 
much that the usual language of every injured person 
in his neighbourhood was, I will apply to. Mr. Har- 
mer. 

The excellent Gilbert West, a steady churchman, 
observes in a letter to Dr. Doddridge, that the appel- 
lation of peace-maker is infinitely more honourable 
than that of a pastor, bishop, or archbishop, patri- 
arch, cardinal, or pope, and attended with a recom* 



404 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

pence infinitely surpassing the richest revenues of the 
highest ecclesiastical dignities. 



November 28. 

Prov. xxix. 23. A man's pride shall bring him low. 

Cardinal Wolsey died in Leicester Abbey, 
1530. From being the son of a butcher at Ipswich, 
he not only rose to the highest posts in the kingdom, 
but had long the entire disposal of the most lucrative 
offices. He was noted for his oppression ; and in- 
deed pride and ambition wrought and raged in his 
mind almost to insanity ; and there was no interest 
of heaven or earth which he was not ready to sacri- 
fice to it. Falling, however, at last into disgrace 
with the King, the Attorney General was ordered to 
prepare a bill of indictment against him ; and he 
was soon after commanded to resign the great seal. 
He was ordered to depart from York palace ; and 
all his furniture and plate were converted to the 
King's use. The inventory of his goods being taken, 
they were found to exceed even the most extrava- 
gant surmises. Of fine Holland alone there were 
found a thousand pieces; the walls of his palace 
were covered with cloth of gold and silver ; he had 
a cupboard of plate of massy gold ; all the rest of 
his riches and furniture were in proportion, and pro- 
bably their greatness invited the hand of power. He 
was arrested by the earl of Northumberland at the 
King's command, for high treason ; and preparations 
were made for conducting him to London, in order 
to his trial. He at first refused to comply with the 
requisition, as being a cardinal ; but finding the earl 
bent on performing his commission, he complied, 
and set out by easy journeys for London* to appear 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 405 

as a criminal where he had acted as a king. In his 
way he staid a fortnight at the Earl of Shrewsbury's ; 
where, one day at dinner, he was taken ill, not with- 
out suspicions of having poisoned himself. As his 
disorder increased, an officer being placed near, at 
once to guard and attend him, he spoke to him a 
little before he expired, to this effect : " I pray you 
have me heartily recommended unto his royal Ma- 
jesty ; he is a prince of a most royal carriage, and 
hath a princely heart ; and rather than he will miss 
or want any part of his will, he will endanger one 
half of his kingdom. I do assure you, I have knelt 
before him three hours together, to persuade him 
from his will and appetite, but could not prevail. 
Had I but served God as diligently as I have 
served the King, he would not have given me over 
in my grey hairs. But this is the just reward that 
1 must receive for my indulgent pains and study, 
not regarding my service to God, but only to my 
prince/' He died soon after, in all the pains of re- 
morse, and quitted a life which had^ been all along 
rendered turbid by ambition, and wretched by mean 
assiduities. 



November 29. 

Psalm civ. 24. O Lord, how manifold fare thy works, is 
wisdom hast thou made them alt ; the earth is full of thy 
riches. 

The Rev. John Ray born 1628, at Black Notley, 
near Braintree, in Essex, whose father pursued the 
humble occupation of a blacksmith; but perceiving 
that his son possessed a vigorous genius, he sent him 
to school at Braintree, and thence to Cambridge, 
where he became distinguished for his great skill in 



406 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

natural history, and particularly in botany, which 
grew into a favorite study, and was pursued with 
particular avidity, from his example. 

He was modest, affable, and communicative, and 
was distinguished for his probity, charity, sobriety, 
and piety. His treatise on the " Wisdom of God in 
the Creation/' is a fine commentary on the above 
passage. " Let us, says he, " consider the works of 
God, and observe the operations of his hands ; let 
us take notice of, and admire his infinite wisdom and 
goodness in the formation of them. No creature in 
this sublunary world is capable of doing so besides 
man ; and yet we are deficient therein ; we content 
ourselves with the knowledge of the tongues, or a 
little skill in philology, or history, perhaps, and an- 
tiquity, and neglect that which seems to me more 
material : I mean, natural history and the works of 
the creation. I do not discommend or derogate 
from those other studies : I should betray mine own 
ignorance and weakness should I do so ; I only wish 
they might not altogether justle out, and exclude 
this. I wish that these might be brought in fashion 
among us ; I wish men would be so equal and civil, 
as not to disparage, deride, and vilify ihose studies 
in which themselves skill not of, or are not conver- 
sant in ; no knowledge can be more pleasant than 
this ; none that doth so satisfy and feed the soul ; 
in comparison whereto, that of words and phrases 
seem to me insipid and jejune. It may be, for ought 
I know, and as some divines have thought, part of 
of our business and employment in eternity, to con- 
template the works of God, and to give him the 
glory of his wisdom, power, and goodness, mani- 
fested iu the creation of them. It is not likely that 
eternal life shall be a torpid and inactive state, or 
that it shall consist only in an uninterrupted and 
endless act of love; the other faculties shall be em- 
ployed as well as the will, in actions suitable to, ancf 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 407 

perfective of their natures. Then shall we clearly 
see to our great satisfaction, and admiration, the 
ends and uses of these things, which here were either 
too subtle for us to penetrate and discover, or too re- 
mote and unaccessible for us to come to any distinct 
view of, viz. the planets and fixed stars. Let it not 
suffice us, while here, to be book-learned, to read 
what others have written, and to take upon trust 
more falsehood than truth. But let us ourselves ex- 
amine things as we have opportunity, and converse 
with nature as well as books. 

Let us endeavour to promote and increase this 
knowledge, and make new discoveries; not so much 
distrusting our own parts, or despairing of our abi- 
lities, as to think that our industry can add nothing 
to the invention of our ancestors, or correct any of 
their mistakes. Let us not think that the bounds of 
science are fixed, like Hercules's pillars, and in- 
scribed with a ne plus ultra. Let us not think we 
have done, wheu we have learned what they have de- 
livered to us. The treasures of nature are inex- 
haustible. Here is employment enough for the 
greatest parts, the most indefatigable industries, the 
happiest opportunities, the most prolix and undis» 
turbed vacancies,*' . 



November 30. 

I Con. xiii. 2. Though I have all knowledge— and have not 
love, I am nothing. 

The learned Selden died 1(554. He was born 
at Salvinton in Sussex, in 1584. He was a man of 
most extensive knowledge and prodigious erudition, 
being usually styled the great dictator of learning to 
the English nation. Grotious calls him the glory 



408 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

of Eugland ; and Baxter says that he was a resolved 
serious Christian. Yet he thought little of human 
knowledge. " We boast," says he, " of a wise and 
learned clergy: but if knowledge be the whole, we 
act like the debauchee, who prayed to God to par- 
don his lasciviousness, and to impute only usury to 
him, to which sin he was not addicted. Ministers 
have many faults worse than ignorance. Proud 
knowledge is more pernicious than modest absurdity. 
Light and love, demonstration and arTection, how 
excellent are these in conjunction/' Such was the 
testimony of a man of learning ; who, after all his 
vast acquirements, thought human knowledge to be 
of little value, unless brought under the power of a 
superior influence. 



December 1. 

Psalm iii. T. Save me, O my God.^ 

Isaiah lx. 20. The Lord shall be thine everlaBting light, and 
the days of thy mourning shall be ended. 

CEcolampadius, the German reformer, died 
1431. He furnished his mind with useful know- 
ledge, and abstained from the disputation of the 
schoolmen. All his conversation was remarkably 
serious and exemplary, grounded upon the maxim, 
Eum qui prqficiat in Uteris et deficiat in moribus, 
non prqficere, sed deficere. That he w ho increases 
in knowledge without virtue does not i crease but 
decrease. He retired to Basil in Switzerland, where 
he was made curate, and preacher of the church of 
St. Martin ; and he soon introduced the doctrine of 
Luther. Here he was again advanced by the se- 
nate to a pastoral office with a yearly stipend, which 
he performed with great zeal and constancy to the 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 40S 

glory of God and the good of his church. Here he 
boldly discovered to his auditors those errors, which 
by continuance had got firm footing in the church — 
he opened up to them the perfection and sufficiency 
of the merits of Christ — he declared to them the 
true nature of faith — and explained to them the 
true doctrine of charity : insomuch, that they began 
to waver in their minds about the authority of the 
popish religion. 

After the painful sustaining of many labours at 
home and abroad, he spent the remainder of his life 
in preaching, reading, writing, publishing, visiting 
the sick, and also the care of certain adjacent 
churches, till 1531, when it pleased God to visit 
him with sickness that soon confined him to his bed, 
with the greatest appearance of a speedy dissolution. 
He sent for the pastors of the place, and welcomed 
them with a short pithy oration ; in which he ex- 
horted them to remain constant and firm in the pu- 
rity of the doctrine which they professed, because it 
was agreeable to the word of God. As to other 
things, he wished them to be Jess careful ; assuring 
them, that the all-sufficient God would care for 
them, and would not be wanting to his church. His 
children standing before him, he took them by their 
right hand, and gently stroking their heads* he ad- 
vised them to love God, who would be to them in 
place of a father. A little before he died, one of 
his intimate friends coming to him, he asked him, 
" What news 1" his frind answered him, " None.*' 
V But (said he) I will tell thee news/' Being asked 
what it was ? he answered, Brevi ero apud Chris- 
tum Dominum" — I shall in a short time be with 
Christ my Lord. And laying his hand upon his 
breast, he said, " Here is abundance of light." In 
the morning he died, he repeated the fifty-first 
Psalm, at the end of which he added, " Sa ha me, 
Christe Jesu," — Save me, O Christ Jesus : being 
T 



410 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

the last words lie was heard to speak. He was of a 
meek and quiet disposition ; in the undertaking of 
any business he was very circumspect ; nor was any 
thiug more pleasing to him than to spend his time in 
reading and commenting* 



December 2. 



feALM xlii. 5. Why art thou cast down, O my soul; and 
why art thou disquieted within me ? hope in God, for I shall 
yet praise him who is the health of my countenance and 
my God. 

This day, 1796, Mungo Park departed from Pi- 
eania, about 200 miles from the mouth of the Gam- 
bia, in the western part of Africa, to explore the in- 
terior part of that country ; which he accomplished 
to the extent of eleven hundred miles in the space of 
eighteen moiiths. This intrepid and intelligent tra- 
veller is supposed to have perished in a recent jour- 
ney of discovery in the same quarter of the globe. 

The following relation which he gives, will shew 
ns the influence of real religion in time of difficulty, 
and the consolation which arises from fixing our 
hope and confidence in the good providence of God * 

" Whichever way I turned, nothing appeared but 
danger and difficulty, I saw myself in the midst of 
a vast wilderness ; in the depth of the rainy season ; 
naked and alone ; surrounded by savage animals, and 
men still more savage. I was five hundred miles 
from the nearest European settlement. All these cir- 
cumstances crowded at once on my recollection ; and 
I confess that my spirits began to fail me. I con- 
sidered my fate as certain, and that I had no alterna- 
tive but to lie down and perish. The influence of 
religion* however, aided and supported me, I reeol. 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 411 

lected that no human prudence or foresight could 
have averted my present sufferings. I indeed was a 
strauger in a strange land; yet I was still under the 
protecting eye of that Providence who has condes- 
cended to call himself the stranger's Friend. At this 
moment, painful as my reflections were, the extra- 
ordinary beauty of a small moss in fructification irre- 
sistibly caught my eye. I mention this to shew 
from what trifling circumstances the mind will some-* 
times derive consolation ; for, though the whole plant 
was not larger than the top of one of m\ fingers, I 
could not contemplate the delicate conformation of 
its roots, leaves, and capsula, without admiration. 
Can that Being* thought I, who planted, watered, 
and brought to perfection, in this obscure part of the 
world, a thing which appears of so small importance, 
look with unconcern upon the situation and sufferings 
of creatures formed after his own image ] Surely not. 
Reflections like these would not allow me to despair, 
I started up ; and disregarding both hunger and fa- 
tigue, travelled forwards, assured that relief was at 
hand ; and I was not disappointed." Thus let the 
Christian in the darkest moment hope in God. 



December 3- 

John v. 39. Search the Scriptures. 

2 Tim. iii. 15. They are able to make thee wise ttnto salva 
tion. 

Dr. Leechman, Principal of the college of Glas- 
gow, died 1785, in his 80th year. He had a great 
Veneration for the sacred oracles. " You see the si- 
tuation I am in," said he, to the son of a worthy 
nobleman, " I have not many days to live ; I am glad 
you have had an opportunity of witnessing the trau» 
T % 



412 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

quillity of my last moments : but it is not tranquil- 
lity and composure alone; it is joy and triumph, it 
is complete exultation ! And whence (says he) does 
this exultation spring ? From that book (pointing 
to a Bible that lay on the table) ; from that book, 
too much neglected indeed, but which contains in- 
valuable treasures; treasures of joy and rejoicing; 
for it makes us certain that this mortal shall put on 
immortality*" 

When we consider the excellency of the sacred 
writings, who is there but must rejoice in the pros- 
pect of their universal circulation] Times have 
been, when they have been prohibited by law ; at 
least, the reading of them. We are told, that in the 
reign of Henry V. a law was passed against the pe- 
rusal of the Scriptures in English. It is enacted, 
"That whosoever they were that should read the 
Scriptures in the mother tongue, that they should 
forfeit land, catel, lif, and godes from they re heyers 
for ever, and so be condemned for hereiykes to God, 
enemies to the crowne, and most arrant traitors to 
the lande" 

On contrasting the above statute with the indefa- 
tigable exertions which are now making to circulate 
the Bible, what a glorious revolution appears to 
have taken place. We may look forward with joy, 
and anticipate the most delightful results. Already 
has it been the means of much good, and the wicked 
themselves have been convinced of its value. When 
a gentleman lately presented a Bible to a prisoner 
under sentence of death, he exclaimed, " Oh, Sir, if 
I had had this book and studied it, I should never 
have committed the crime of which I have been con- 
victed. " So it is said of a native Irishman, when lie 
read for the first time in his life a New Testament 
which a gentleman put into his hands, he exclaimed, 
" W 1 believe this* it is impossible for me to remain* a 
rebel." 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 41* 

December 4. 

Job. xiii. 15. Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him. 

Dr. Whitaker, of Oxford University, died 
1595. He was a man of eminent learning; but at 
length leaving Plato and Aristotle, which last he had 
closely studied for a long time, he betook himself to 
the diligent study of the holy Scriptures ; to which, 
as indeed becomes a christian, he always attributed 
the only authority for determining matters of faith, 
and for deciding religious controversies. He like- 
wise diligently perused the modern divines, especi- 
ally the faithful and sincere interpreters of God's 
word. And being a person of incredible applica- 
tion, he in a few years went through almost all the 
fathers, both Greek and Latin. He was so entirely 
devoted to this pursuit, that, it is said, if, on any oc- 
casion, either by the visits of friends, or other avo- 
cations, any part of the time he had allotted to read- 
ing was lost, he used to sit up at night till he had 
accomplished the task he had prescribed himself for 
the preceding day. By this close application to 
study, he improved greatly in knowledge; but, at 
the same time, so impaired the vigour of his body, 
that it is supposed he laid the foundation of those 
complaints which followed him during the rest of his 
life, and brought him early to the grave. In the 
whole couise of his sickness he discovered great 
submission to the will of God, expressing himself in 
prayer in the words of Job, " O Lord my God, 
though thou kiilest me, yet I am sure with these eyes 
1 shall see thee ; for in thee do I hope." To a 
friend, who one morning asked him how he did 2 he 
answered, " O happy night ! — I have not taken so 
sweet a sleep since my disease fe.ll upon rne." But 
{lis friend finding him in a cold sweat, and telling 
T 3 



414 [PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 






him that signs of death appeared on him, he an- 
swered, " Life or death is equally welcome to me, 
which God pleaseth: but death will be my gain ; I 
desire not to live, but only so far as 1 may promote 
the honour of God, and do his church service." He 
was very remarkable for patient bearing of injuries; 
and though many were done to him, he never made 
revenges to any body ; but was so obliging to all 
who could expect no good of him, through his love to 
religion and peace, that in the strictest sense of the 
word he might be said to return good for evil. 

Bishop Hall said of him, " Never man saw him 
without reverence, nor heard him without wonder.'' 
Cardinal Bellarmine procured his picture, out of 
England, and hung it up in his study ; much ad- 
miring him for his singular learning. And being 
asked by a Jesuit, why he would suffer the picture of 
that heretic to hang there 1 he answered, " That 
thoqgh he was an heretic, and his adversary, he was 
learned ad versary." 



December 5. 

Prov. xi. 30. He that winneth souls is wise, ^ 

Dr. William Hawes, an English physician, 
died 1808. He has immortalized his name by being 
the founder of the Royal Hnmane Society, for the 
recovery of persons apparently dead by drowning, 
suffocation, or strangulation. By this excellent in- 
stitution, great numbers have been saved. Well, 
therefore, may it be called the Humane Society, 
But if it be of such importance to save the body, 
how much more to save the soul ? Let us therefore 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 415 

turn oar attention to that grand and noble institu- 
tion, the gospel ministry. Happy is he who snatches 
a fellow creature from a watery grave, or prevents 
the spark of life from being entirely extinct. But 
he that winneth souls is wise ; he saves a soul from 
spiritual death, and hideth a multitude of sins. 
When one was about to construct a light-house, he 
was asked what was his object? " My object," said 
he " is to give light, and to save life." Is not this 
the grand end of the gospel dispensation? — Is it not 
a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that 
Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners 1 
Let not a gospel ministry then be disregarded, since 
it is designed to rescue man from present and future 
misery, and let the heralds of salvation go forth with 
joy and gratitude to proclaim the glad tidings to a 
guilty world. 



December 6. 



Jer. xiii. IS. Say unto the king and to tbe queen, Humble 
yourselves, sit down; for your principalities ^hall come 
down, even the crown of your glory. 

Fallen Majesty. 

Mr. Pennant, in describing Lambeth church, 
takes occasion to mention an instance of fallen mar 
jesty, in the person of Mary d'Este, the unhappy 
queen of James II. who, in 1688, fleeing with her 
infant prince from the ruin impending over their 
house, crossed the Thames from the abdicated 
Whitehall, and took shelter beneath the walls of this 
ancient edifice a, whole hour from the rain, the night 
T.4 



416 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 






being very inclement. Here she waited with ag- 
gravated misery till a common coach procured from 
the next inn, arrived, and conveyed her to Graves- 
end, whence, bidding an eternal adieu to these king- 
doms, she sailed to France. 

How uncertain and transient the glories of this 
world ! The crown cannot secure against the attacks 
of adversity ; and princes have been made to wander 
in a solitary way. See Sept. 16. 



December 7. 

Ezek. xxv. 15. They have dealt by revenge, and have 
taken vengeance with a despiteful heart, 

B. C. 43. Was basely assassinated, near his for- 
mian villa, adjacent to Cajeta in Latium, Italy, the 
ever-famous orator, statesman, and philosopher, 
Marcus Tuliius Cicero. He declaimed in his youth 
so openly against Sylla's father, that it became ne- 
cessary for him to retire to Greece, where he heard 
the Athenian orators and philosophers, and greatly 
improved both in eloquence and knowledge. He 
then came back to Rome, was made questor, and af- 
terwards edill, when he prosecuted Verres for his 
cruel extortions in his province. He was afterwards 
made consul, and discovered and defeated Cataline's 
conspiracy; yet Claudius, and his abettors banished 
him, till he was recalled by Pompey, to whom he af- 
terwards adhered in the civil wars. Anthony, after 
the triumvirate, had him massacred, in revenge for 
his philippics, and the murderer was Popilius, a man 
for whom Cicero had formerly pleaded, and who ac- 
tually cut off the head and hands of his defender. 
Thus, this eminent orator at last fell a sacrifice to 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR, 417 

the horrid principles of revenge and ingratitude. 
Aias, what monsters are men,- if not restrained by a 
superior power ! See Jan. 3. 



December 8. 

Heb. x. 38, If any man draw back, my soul shall have ne 
pleasure in him. 

Horace, the celebrated poet, was bornB. C. 65. 
Brutus passing through Athens, in his way to Mace- 
donia, took several young gentlemen from thence to 
the army with him ; among whom was Horace, 
whom he made a tribune, an honour, as it soon ap- 
peared, he could not pretend to for his valour ; for 
at the battle of Phiippi, he left the field and fled, 
having first thrown away his shield, which was rec- 
koned a most dishonourable action. Thus let those 
remember, who desert the banner of the great Cap- 
tain of our salvation, that for them are reserved no 
honours, no joys, no rewards; but a fearful looking 
for of punishment. How much more noble to perse- 
vere, though wounded and covered witfc* scars* 
Such, saith the Saviour, shall sit with me on my 
throne. Let us ever be earnest in our applications 
that grace may be given us, that we may stand fast, 
be strong in the faith, and at last have an abundant 
entrance into the mansions of rest and peace. 

This day, 1691, the indefatigable RlCHARD BAX- 
TER died. See Nov. 12. 



418 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 



December 9. 



£ 



Job xxxii. 8. There is a spirit in man, and the inspiration 
^ of the Almighty giveth them understanding. 

The illustrious English poet, Milton, was born 
in Bread Street, Cheapside, London, 1608. He re- 
ceived the ru'iiments of a learned education at St. 
Paul's school, and afterwards studied at Cambridge. 
Milton was eminently skilled in the Latin tongue, 
and is said to have been the first Englishman, who, 
after the revival of letters, wrote Latin verses with 
classic elegance. He was also well acquainted with 
all the languages which are considered as either 
learned or polite. His immortal poem intitled Pa- 
radise Lost, the copyright of which he sold for only 
£15, was published in 1667; and to it, in the edi- 
tion of 1727, is prefixed the Author's Life, by 
Fenton. 

Milton died in 1674, and was interred near his 
father, in the chancel of St. Giles, Cripplegate; 
where a handsome monument was erected to his me- 
mory by the late Mr. Whitbread. 

In lis way of living, he was an example of so- 
briety and temperance. He was very sparing in the 
use of wine or strong liquors of any kind. Let 
meaner poets make use of such expedients to raise 
their fancy and kindle their imaginations, he wanted 
not any artificial spirits ; he had a natural fire, and 
poetic warmth enough of his own. He was likewise 
very abstemious in his diet, not fastidiously nice or 
delicate in the choice of his dishes, but content with 
any thing that was most in season, or easiest to 
be procured ; eating and drinking (according to 
the distinction of the philosopher) that he might live, 
and not living that he might eat and drink. In his 
youth he was accustomed to sit up late at his stu- 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 419? 

dies, and seldom went to bed before midnight ; but 
afterwards finding it to be the ruin of his eyes, and 
looking on this custom as very pernicious to health 
at any time, he used to go to rest early, seldom later 
than nine, and would be stiring in summer at four, 
and in the winter at five in the morning; but if he 
was not disposed to rise at his usual hours, he still 
did not lie sleeping, but had somebody or other by 
his bed side to read to him. At his first rising, he 
had usually a chapter read to him out of the Hebrew- 
Bible, and he commonly studied all the morning till 
twelve, then used some exercise for an hour, after- 
wards dined, and after dinner played on the organ, 
and either sung himself, or made his wife sing, who 
(he said) had a. good voice, but no ear ; and then he 
went up to study again till six, when his friends came 
to visit him, and sat with him perhaps till eight; 
then he went down to supper. 

He had a quick apprehension, a sublime imagina- 
tion, a strong memory, a piercing judgment, a wit 
always ready, and facetious or grave, as the occasion 
required. Perhaps, the loss of his sight added vigour 
to the faculties of his mind. He at least thought 
so, and comforted himself with that reflection. See 
Nov. 8. 



December 10. ] 

John vi. ST. Him that cotneth unto me, 1 will in no wise 
cast out. 

To how many thousands have these words been 
the means of affording encouragement in the season 
of deep conviction and soul distress. Among the 
rest we may observe the following. A clergyman 
was called in to visit a poor dying woman, who was- 



420 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

quite ignorant of the truth. After conversing with 
her on the depravity of human nature and the way 
of salvation by Jesus Christ, that it was all of grace, 
and that there was no limitation as to person or 
state; the woman listened to every word with ureat 
attention ; the tears began to trickle down her 
cheeks ; and at last she said, " I know nothing of 
the man of whom you have been speaking ; v imme- 
diately adding, " I was never brought up in the way 
of religion; never taught to know a letter of a book, 
nor yet attend any place of worship/' The clergy- 
man %isiting her the next da , began to discourse 
upon the suitableness, the ability, and willingness of 
Jesus to save perishing sinners. ? And do you 
think, Sir," said she, " he will save such a vile 
wretch as I ami" He observed, the promise ran 
thus, f* Him that cometh unto me, I will iu no wise 
cast out .'' Here she found a basis to rest on. Her 
knowledge of divine things rapidly increased; and 
fervent devotions seemed now to be the perpetual 
breathings of her soul. She continued in this state 
about six weeks, soliciting the company of all chris- 
tian friends to converse and pray with her, giving evi- 
dent marks of being a subject of that grace to which 
she had been so long a stranger. Doubting soul, de- 
spair not, while you read the above-mentioned pro- 
mise, while you recollect the sufficiency of grace, 
and while you have so many instances of the displays 
of mercy and love to perishing sinners. 



December 11. 

Proverbs xxx. 16. The fire that saith not, It is enough. 

Expired, 178X, in the 24th year of her age, in 
consequence of her clothes taking fire the preced 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 421 

ing evening, Elizabeth Pickett, the amiable 
daughter of Alderman Pickett, of London, On her 
monument, in the churchyard of Stoke Newington, 
Middlesex, are the following monitory lines : " Rea- 
der, if ever you should witness such an affecting 
scene, recollect, that the only method to extinguish 
the flame, is to stifle it by an immediate covering." 

On this day also, 1718, died Charles XII. King 
of Sweden, He was shot in the trenches of Fre- 
derickshall, a famous frontier town in the southern 
part of Norway which he was then besieging. It 
has been generally said, that this illustrious madman, 
as he has been aptly stiled, wis killed by a cannon 
shot from the walls of the town; but is now sup- 
posed, that a pistol from some nearer hand, from 
one of tlose about him, gave the decisive blow which 
finished the career of this celebrated monarch. 
This opinion is said to be very prevalent among the 
best informed persons in Sweden. And it appears 
that the Swedes were tired of a prince under whom 
they had lost their richest provinces, their bravest 
troops, and their national riches ; and who yet, un- 
tamed by adversity, pursued an unsuccessful and 
pernicious war ; nor would ever have listened to the 
voice of peace, or consulted the internal tranquillity 
of his country. 



December 12. 

2 Tim. i. 12. I am persuaded that he is able to keep that 
which I have committed to him against that day. 

Doctor Gouge, minister of Saint Anne's 
Church, Blackfriars, London, died 1653, aged 79 
years. Such was his respect to bis parish, that 



422 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 






though he was often offered places of far greater 
profit, he refused them all, often saving, " That the 
height of his ambition was to go from Blackfriars to 
heaven." At his first coming to Blackfriars, being 
in the 33d year of his age, he constantly preached 
twice on the Lord's day, aud once weekly, on Wed- 
nesday forenoon, which was for about thirty-five 
years very much frequented, and that by many city 
ministers, and by sundry pious and judicious gentle- 
men of the inns of court, besides many citizens from, 
other parishes, who in multitudes flocked to his 
church. Yea, such was the fame of Dr. Gouge's 
ministry, that, when the godly Christians of those 
times came out of the country to London, they 
thought not their business done, unless they had 
been to Blackfriars' lecture. When he could not 
go, through infirmity of body, he would be carried to 
his duty. " I can study my sermou, I can preach 
my sermon," said he, " and shall I forbear preach- 
ing because I am too weak to go? — 1 will rather be 
carried." He was a great peace-keeper, and a great 
peace-maker, having an excellent dexterity in com- 
posing differences ; far he was from doing others 
wrong, and far from revenging wrong done by 
others. He suffered much by the speeches, and 
also by the actions of evil and envious persons ; yet. 
he would pray for them, rather than in any harsh 
way requite them. He accounted reviiers and wrong 
doers to do more hurt to themselves than to him. 
Great was his patience under the visiting hand of 
God, especially in his old age, when God visited 
him with painful maladies. He was never heard to 
call himself great sufferer ', but great sinner; and 
he would not stop there, but would always add,. 
Great Saviour, for his comfort. He would often 
say, " Soul, be silent — soul, be patient ; it is thy 
God and Father that thus ordereth thy estate; thou, 
art clay, he may tread and trample on thee as it 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 423 

pleaselh him ; thou hast deserved much more, it is 
enough that thou art kept out of hell; though thy 
pain be grievous, yet it is tolerable ; that God af- 
fords some intermissions, he will turn it to thy good, 
and at length put an end to all ; none of these can 
be expected in hell !" In the greatest agonies he 
would say, ** Well, yet in all these there is nothing 
of hell, or God's wrath/' He would often make 
mention of the extent of obedience, which he said, 
4( was not only to endeavour to do what God re- 
quireth, but also patiently to bear what God's will 
is to lay upon his creature ; as Christ himself, though 
he were a Son, he learned obedience by the things 
which he suffered." In his greatest pangs he often 
used this speech of Job, " Shall we receive good 
from the hands of God, and not evil T He often 
commended his soul unto Christ, and would say, " I 
am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I 
have committed to him against that day." When 
any of his friends went about to comfort him in 
those gifts which God had bestowed on him, and 
those works which he had wrought by him, he would 
answer, " I dare not think of any such thing for 
comfort ; Jesus Christ, and what he hath done and 
endured, is the only ground of my sure comfort/* 
Drawing near his end, he said, " Now I have not 
long to live in this world ; the time of my depar- 
ture is at hand ; I am going to my desired haven ?' 
the apprehension whereof was no little joy unto him ; 
for he had often said to such of his friends as came to 
visit him in his sickness, '* I am most willing to 
die, having, I bless God, nothing to do but to die." 
But when he perceived that his time in this world 
could not be long, O how sweet and joyful was the 
apprehension of death unto him, which he often 
termed his best friend, next unto Jesus Christ. As 
while he lived, he led an heavenly life, so about the 
time of his death, by those comforts and joys that he 



424 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

found in his soul, lie seemed to be in heaven while 
he was upon earth ; and thus continued full of sweet 
comfort and heavenly expressions to the last. 



December 13. 

Job xxx, 20,21. I cry unto thee, and thou dott not hear me. 
I s-and up, and thou regard est me not. Thou art become 
cruel to me. 

The words which Job here improperly applied to 
the Creator ought have been used with great pro- 
priety in the following case. On this day, 1807, 
Jeffrey, a seaman, was most inhumanly left on the 
barren uninhabited island or rock of .^ombrera, half 
naked, and with neither victuals nor drink, where 
he continued eight days and a half; it seems, that 
he had no sleep during the whole time, excepting a 
few broken slumbers, iiom which he started with 
horror at his situation ; that by means of quills out 
of the feathers of sea-birds hovering over him, he sip- 
ped the rain-water lodged in the crevices of the 
rocks; that by waving a large straw hat which he 
wore, he, after many fruitless efforts on various ships, 
caught the notice of an American vessel that landed 
him at Marble Head ; and, that had he not succeed- 
ed in this last attempt, he must, from extreme debi- 
lity, have perished. Even this signal, probably, 
would not have answered its purpose, had not the 
captain approached the island from a motive of cu- 
riosity. He has received the sum of *€690 from his 
persecutor, as a compensation for the horrid barba- 
rity of unexampled suffering. 

On this day, 1784, Doctor Johnson died. He 
possessed very extraordinary powers of understand- 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR, 42* 

ing, which were much cultivated by reading, and 
still more by reflection and meditation. His memory 
was remarkably retentive, his imagination uncom- 
monly vigorous, and his judgment keen and penetrat- 
ing. He read with great rapidity, retained with won- 
derful exactness what he so easily collected, and pos- 
sessed the power of reducing to order and system 
the scattered hints on any subject which he had ga- 
thered from different books. It would not perhaps 
be safe to claim for him the highest place among his 
cotemporaries, in any single departmentof literature ; 
but, to use one of his own expressions, he brought 
more mind to every subject, and had a greater va- 
riety of knowledge ready for all occasions, than any 
other man that could be easily named. Though 
prone to superstition, he was in all other respects so 
remarkably incredulous, that Hogarth said, while 
Johnson firmly believed the Bible, he seemed deter- 
mined to believe nothing but the Bible. Of the im- 
portance of religion he had a strong sense, and his 
zeal for its interests was always awake, so that pro- 
faneness of every kind was abashed in his presence. 
Some have thought his morbid melancholy and 
constitutional infirmities were intended by Provi- 
dence, like Paul's thorn in the flesh, to check intel- 
lectual conceit and arrogance, which the conscious- 
ness of his extraordinary talents, alive as he was to 
the voice of praise, might otherwise have generated 
in a very culpable degree. 



December 14. 

1 Sam. xvi. 18. A mighty valiant man, and a man of war, 
and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and the Lord 
is with him. 

Died 1799, without a sigh or groan, at Mount 
Vernon, a few miles from Washington, that consura- 



426 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

mate patriot, general, and statesman, George Wash- 
ington, late President of the United States of Ameri- 
ca ; who, having by his sword obtained the independ- 
ence of that vast continent, and by his wisdom esta- 
blished her security, trade, and happiness, with a 
greatness of mind without example in modern times, 
voluntarily descended from the pinnacle of power, to 
enjoy the otium cum dignitate in the bosom of his 
family, and the peaceful and pleasing occupations of 
agriculture. He was celebrated for his consummate 
prudence, calm wisdom, inflexible firmness, and ex- 
cellent temper. The same calmness, simplicity, and 
regularity which had uniformly marked his demea- 
nour did not forsake him in his dying moments. He 
saw the approaches of death without fear ; and died, 
it is said, witli those sentiments of piety which had 
given vigour and consistency to all his actions, and 
adorned every part of his illustrious life. 



December 15. 



John Hi. 3. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, ve- 
rily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he can- 
not see the kingdom of God. 

On this day, 1811, died the venerable missionary, 
Dr. Vanderkemp. His piety, knowledge, pru- 
dence, exertions, and success, were truly great. As 
it was emphatically writteu by way of epitaph on the 
tomb of a celebraled architect, in the noble edifice 
which he had reared, (Jircumspice (look around), so 
when it shall be inquired by the world, What was the 
character of Dr. Vanderkemp, we may point to the 
South African missions, to Bethelsdorp, and to a 
church of the living God erected in a wilderness of 
savages, and say, Behold his character ; admire and ; 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 42? 

imitate. The following is a pleasing instance of his 
usefulness. Au English deserter, who had turned a 
deaf ear to the solicitations of his christian friends 
in Yorkshire, was led by the good providence of 
God, to hear Dr. Vanderkernp in CafFraria, whose 
ministry brought to his mind the assertion of a minis- 
ter in England, — c< We must be born again/' He 
came and conversed with the Doctor ; the result was 
pleasing in the highest degree ; he became a man of 
prayer, forsook the pursuits of his dissolute compa- 
nions, and gave satisfactory evidence of his conver- 
sion. How wonderful was the goodness of God to 
send the bread of life to this poor wretch in the de- 
serts, which he had rejected with contempt in his na- 
tive country ! 



December 16. 

Gal. iii. 6. Even as Abraham believed, and it was counted 
to him for. righteousness. 

The Rev. Samuel Walker of Truro born 1714. 
In his conversation he discovered an uncommon 
depth of thought, and delivered his sentiments with 
readiness of expression on any subject. His under- 
standing was remarkably clear, and continued so to 
the very last. He was possessed of a quick appre- 
hension, a solid judgment, and a retentive memory. 
The faculty which appeared in a more distinguishing 
manner, was his methodical exactness and propriety 
in the arrangement of his thoughts, and the distribu- 
tion of the several parts of the subject he undertook 
to elucidate, The twenty-fifth sermon upon the ca- 
techism, which was preached at Truro on the 27th 
of April, in the year 1760, and was the last discourse 
delivered by our author in public, deserves our par- 



428 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

ticular notice. " Well (says he), we shall all appear 
before the judgment-seat of Christ together. There 
the controversy between me, calling upon you by the 
terrors of the Lord, and you, determined to abide in 
your sins, will be decided. There it will appear, 
whether your blood will be upon your own heads for 
your obstinate impenitency, or upon mine for not 
giving you warning. Christ will certainly either ac- 
quit or condemn me on this behalf; and if I should 
be acquitted herein, what will become of you? I 
tremble to think how so many words of mine will be 
brought up against you on that day. What will you 
say, what will you answer, how will you excuse your- 
selves 1 O sirs, if you will not be prevailed upon, 
you will eternally curse the day that you knew me, 
or heard one word from my mouth. Why, why will 
you die, with so aggravated a destruction ] O think 
of the judgment; think of it, and you will not be 
able to hold it out against your own souls. May the 
Lord incline you to do so; may he cause this word 
to sink deep into your hearts ; may he shew you all 
your danger ; and with an outstretched arm bring 
you out of the arms of the devil and translate you 
into the glorious kingdom of his dear Son, to his own 
glory and your unspeakable happiness in the day of 
the appearance of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 
Even so, most mighty God, and most merciful Fa- 
ther, for the same Jesus Christ's sake." 

With these striking words did this faithful servant 
of Christ finish his public ministry. It has been 
made evident from the account of his constant atten- 
tion to the duties of the sacred office, that he spared 
no pains in using his most diligent endeavours for 
the promoting of God's glory and the editving the 
people committed to his charge. An inward burn- 
ing fever, attended with profuse night sweats, had 
wasted his vital strength; a stubborn cough conti- 
nually hung upon him ; neither his food nor his me- 



Practical expositor. 4w 

dicines did him any service ; a general languor op- 
pressed his whole frame, and his spirits-were reduced 
to a very low state. At those times when the powers 
of nature failed him most, he was wont to break out 
into such expressions as these : " What a miserable 
creature should I be in my present situation, if I 
could not look upon God as my covenant God ; my 
reconciled Father in Christ? The weakness of my 
body and of my spirits deprives me of all joyous sen- 
sations ; but my faith in God's promises, 1 bless the 
Lord, is firm and unshaken. What though my loss of 
strength and spirits robs me of all comfortable com« 
munion with God, the promises are not therefore 
made void. Abraham belived, and it was counted to 
him for righteousness. I believe that God is yiithful 
and true in all his declarations of mercy which I 
have sought for, though I cannot now feel the im- 
pressions of his love." And likewise, " The nearer 
I advance towards eternity, the more I am confirmed 
In the truth of the doctrines which I have preached 
and published. I am sure they will stand the test of 
the last day. Conviction of sin, original as well as 
actual, is the grand inlet to all saving knowledge ; 
where this is wanting, the superstructure will not 
stand ; but if this foundation be deeply laid, the heart 
-will then welcome the glad tidings of salvation." It 
being observed by one who was sitting on his bed- 
side, what a blessing he enjoyed in his present situa- 
tion, that his soui was ripe for heaven and eternity, 
lie interrupted him with saying, " That the body of 
sin was not yet done away, but that he should con- 
tinue a sinner to the last gasp, and desired that he 
would pray for him as such." On starting up from 
an apparent fit of dosing, fie took hold of his nurse 
by the hand, who was sitting near him, and uttered 
this rapturous expression, " I have been upon the 
wings of the cherubim ; heaven has in a manner been 
opened to me ; I shall be soon there myself, and am 



MO PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

only sorry that I cannot take you with me." The 
next day, while a young clergyman who came from a 
distant part of the country to visit his departing 
friend, was standing near his bed side, he lined up 
his eyes in a mannerthat bespoke a joy more than 
words could utter, and addressed him thus, " O ! my 
friend, had I strength to speak, I could tell you such 
news as would rejoice your very soul : I have had 
such views of heaven — But I am not able to say 
more." The evident concern of some of his particu* 
lar friends, upon the increase of his disorder, some- 
times affected him, on which account, thinking, it is 
probable, that the sight of his last agonies might give 
them pain, he one day said to a servant that attended 
him, " I would I might slip away, when nobody but 
you should be present ; "*and so indeed it fell out, 
for just when all except that person had left the 
room, not apprehending him to be so near his end, 
he turned his head aside on the pillow, and nature 
appearing to be quite exhausted, without any other 
token than a sigh something longer and more deep 
than usuaL his soul was delivered from the prison of 
the bod v. 



December 17. 

fcrEv. xlix. 28. S3. And Jacob blessed his sons, every one 
according to his blessing he blessed them. And when he 
had made an end of commanding them, he gathered up his 
feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost 

The Rev. Mr. Bolton, minister of Broughton in 
Northamptonshire, died 1631. He usually prayed 
six times a day, twice by himself, twice with his fa- 
mily, and twice with his wife. A little before his 
death he said, f{ I am, by the wonderful mercies of 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 431 

God as full of comfort as I can bold, and feel nothing 
in my soul but Christ, with whom I heartily desire to 
be. He was much concerned for his family. " See/' 
said he, * that noue of you meet me at the day of 
judgment in an unconverted state." 

There is something very solemn in a dying parent's 
charge to his children. When Mr. Henry Erskine 
was dying, he called for his children, of whom sis 
out of the nine that were then living were present. 
With a kind of heavenly authority he exhorted them 
to cleave to the Lord with full purpose of heart. He 
assured them as a dying man, that as he had never 
repented, so more especially he did not repent then 
of any hardships he had endured in his Master's 
service. He added, " I know I am going to heaven* 
and if you follow my footsteps, you and I, ere long, 
shall have a joyful meeting there." He then caused 
them, one after another, from the eldest to the young- 
est present, to kneel down by his bed side, and tak- 
ing them in his arms, he solemnly charged them to 
be the servants of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and 
Jacob, and his own God* and to keep his ways, as 
ever they would look him in the face at the great day 
of the Lord. Then blessing them, he committed his 
wife and them to the care of Divine Providence, and 
commended his spirit to Him who had eared for him 
all his life long. What an affecting scene ! what an 
impression must we suppose this to have made on the 
minds of his surviving children ! 



December 18, 

Matt. v. 3. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is tM 
kingdom of heaven. 

Soame Jenyns died 1781. He was well known 
iu the world as the author of " The Internal Evi~ 



432 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

dence of the Christian Religion," and various other 
pieces. He was born in London in 1705, and was 
many years member of parliament for the town of 
Cambridge. He seemed to have a right view of the 
above passage ; while he lamented how little the 
spirit referred to prevailed in the world, " By poor- 
ness of spirit he observes, is to be understood, a dis, 
position of mind, meek, humble, submissive to power- 
void of ambition, patient of injuries, and free from all 
resentment. This was so new, and so opposite to the 
ideas of all Pagan moralists, that they thought this 
temper of mind a criminal and contemptible mean- 
ness, which must induce men to sacrifice the glory of 
their country, and their own honour, to a shameful 
pusillanimity ; and such it appears to almost all who 
are called Christians even at this day, who not only 
reject it in practice, but disavow it in principle not- 
withstanding this explicit declaration of their Mas- 
ter. We see them revenging the smallest affronts by 
premeditated murder, as individuals, on principles of 
honour ; and, in their natural capacities, destroying 
each other with fire and sword, for the low consider- 
ations of commercial interests, the balance of rival 
powers, or the ambition of princes. We see them 
with their last breath animating each other to a sa- 
vage revenge, and, in the agonies of death, plunging 
with feeble arms their daggers into the hearts of their 
opponents : and, what is still worse, we hear all these 
barbarisms celebrated by historians, flattered by 
poets, applauded in theatres, approved in senates, 
and even sanctified in pulpits. But universal prac- 
tice cannot alter the nature of things, nor universal 
error change the nature of truth : pride was not made 
for man, but humility, meekness, and resignation ; 
that is, poorness of spirit, was made for man, and 
properly belongs to his dependent and precarious si- 
tuation ; and is the only disposition of mind which 
can enable him to enjoy ease and quiet here, and 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR, 433 

happiness hereafter. Yet was this important precept 
entirely unkown until it was promulgated by him 
who said, " Sutler little children to come unto me, 
and forbid them not ; for of such is the kingdom of 
heaven. — Verily, I say unto you, whosoever shall not 
receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall 
not enter therein." 



December 19. 

Job iii. 1. And he opened his mouth and cursed his day. 

Henry II. crowned 1154. He expired at Chinon, 
near Sawmer, now in the department of Indre and 
Loire; and was interred at Tonterrault, in the de- 
partment of Maine and Loire. He died of a broken 
heart, having previously cursed the day in which he 
received his miserable being, and bestowed on his un* 
grateful and undutiful children a malediction which 
he could not be prevailed on to retract. He was at 
his death in the 58th year of his age, and 35th of his 
reign ; the greatest prince of his time for wisdom, 
virtue, and abilities ; and the most powerful, in ex- 
tent of dominion, of all that had ever filled the throne 
of England. 

It is said of him, that dreading the power of the 
Pope, he did penance in Canterbury Cathedral, to 
make atonement to the ashes of Becket, and tender 
his submission to a dead enemy. As soon as he 
came within sight of the church he dismounted, 
walked bare-foot towards it, prostrated himself be- 
fore the shrine of the saint, remained in fasting and 
prayer during a whole day, watched all night the 
holy reliques, and finally presented his bare shoul- 
ders to be scourged by the lashes of a chapter of 
monks. The next dav he received absolution. 
U 



434 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

December 20. 

I Cor. xiii. $2. Let us eat and drink, for to morrow we die* 

This is the Epicure's proverb; but, as Bishop 
Taylor observes, though thought witty by the undis- 
cerning company, yet when it comes to be examined 
by the consultations of the morning and the sober 
hours of the day, it seems the most witless and the 
most unreasonable in the world. When Seneca de- 
scribes the spare diet of some, he says, " The priso- 
ner keeps a better table, and he that is to kill the 
criminal to-morrow morning, gives him a better sup- 
per over night.'' When the heathens feasted their 
gods, they gave nothing but a fat ox, a ram, or a 
kid ; they poured a little wine upon the altar, and 
burnt a handful of gum ; but when they feasted them- 
selves they had many vessels filled with Campanian 
wine, turtles of Liguiia, Sicilian beeves, and wheat 
from Egypt, wild boars from Illyrium and Grecian 
sheep ; variety, and load,, and curiosity, and cost, 
and so do we. It is so little we spend in religion, 
and so very much upon ourselves ; so little to the 
poor, and so much without measure to make our- 
selves sick, that we seem to be in love with our own 
mischief, and so passionate for necessity and want, 
fbat we strive all the ways we can to make our- 
selves need more than nature intended. And what 
wisdom can be expected from them whose soul dwells 
in clouds of meat, and floats up and down in wine. 
It is a perfect shipwreck of a man, the pilot is intoxi- 
cated, the helm dashed in pieces, and the ship first 
reels, and by swallowing too much is itself swallowed 
up at last. And therefore the madness of the young 
fellows of Agrigentura, who being drunk, fancied 
themselves in a storm, and the house, the ship, was 
more than the wild fancy of their caps, it was really 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 435 

so, they were all cast away, they were broken in 
pieces by the foul disorder of the storm. So have 
I seen the eye of the world looking upon a fenny 
bottom , and drinking up too free draughts of mois- 
ture, gathered them into a cloud, and that cloud 
crept about his face, and made him first look red, 
and then covered him with darkness and an artificial 
night ; so is our reason at a feast." 



December 21. 

John xxi. 16. Feed my sheep. 

On this day, 1807, departed this life, the Rev. and 
excellent Mr. John Ne\vt©n, whose Life is well 
known to almost every religious reader. The follow- 
ing anecdote of him will illustrate the above passage. 
He once paid a visit to a minister who affected great 
accuracy in his discourses, and who on that Sabbath- 
day had nearly occupied an hour in insisting on seve- 
ral laboured and nice distinctions made in his sub- 
ject. As he had a high estimation of Mr. Newton's 
judgment, he inquired of him, as they walked home, 
whether he thought the distinctions just now insisted 
on were full and judicious 1 ? Mr. N. said he thought 
them not full, as a very important one had been 
omitted. "What can that be?" said the minister, 
" for I had taken more than ordinary care to enume- 
rate them fully." " I think not," replied Mr. N. 
" for when many of your congregation had travelled 
several miles for a meal, I think you should not have 
forgotten the important distinction which must ever 
exist between meat and bones." 

Mr. Christopher Richardson, minister of Kirk Hea« 
ton in Yorkshire, was much followed : a neighbour- 
ing minister, whose parishioners used to go to hear 
U 2 



436 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

him, complaining once to him that he drew away his 
flock, Mr. Richardson answered, " Feed them better* 
and they will not stray." 



December 22. 

Prov. iii. 27. Withhold net go©d from them to whom it is 

due. 
Dan. xi\. 2. They that turn many to righteousness shall 

shine as the stars for ever and ever. 

Expired 1788, in his 76th year, at his native city, 
London, Perceval Pott, F. R. S. who had been sur- 
geon to St. Bartholomew's Hospital nearly half a cen- 
tury ; and, by an active mind, and unremitting atten- 
tion, had arrived at the summit of his profession. 
The day before his decease, he said, " My lamp is 
almost extinguished ; I hope it has burned for the 
good of others." 

Happy for those who can leave the world with the 
delightful thought of having in some degree been 
useful in it. For what indeed should we desire to 
live, but that we might glorify God, and be a bless- 
ing to others. Plato could say, " I was not born for 
myself alone, for my country claims a part, my rela- 
tions claim a part, and my friends claim a part in 
me." Senneca saye, " I would so live, as if I knew I 
received my being only for the benefit of others. " 
Let us then work while it is day — our light shine 
and our zeal burn in directing others into the way of 
truth; nor let us forget the joy we shall feel in a fu- 
ture day, on beholding the instances of converting 
grace by our instrumentality. 

When a Roman preserved the life of a citizen, he 
was rewarded with a civic crown. But what shall 
be the reward of him who has been the means of 
saving ^aj soul & from death^ and hiding a multitude of 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 437 

sins. Go forward then, ye who are engaged in this 
noble employ, What are splendid talents, dignified 
titles, untold wealth, or wide spreading fame, when 
contrasted with that ardent zeal and benevolent ex- 
ertion which labour to rescue a soul from destruction. 
For you await greater rewards than those bestowed 
on the conquerors of the world. At the close of life, 
it will not be yours to say you have conquered a 
mighty province; but to your greater honour it may 
be yours to exclaim, I have gained a soul, infinitely 
more valuable than all the material worlds God ever 
made. 



December 23. 

Esther vi. 9, What shall be done unto the man whom the 
king delighieth to honour ? 

Kings have sometimes shewn their condescension 
and kindness by investing their subjects with great 
honours. Thus here, Mordecai, whom wicked Ha- 
inan thought to destroy, was exalted to dignity and 
great favour. Plautianus, an African of mean birth,; 
in his early days formed an acquaintance with Seve- 
rus, who afterwards ascended the imperial throne. 
Severus, though a cruel monarch, entertained such 
an affection for him, that he suffered him to exercise 
as much power as himself, and wanted but the name 
of emperor to be his equal. His table was served 
with more delicate meats than that of the emperor ; 
when he walked the public streets, he received the 
most distinguishing honours, and a number of criers 
ordered the most noble citizens, as well as the mean- 
est beggars, to make way for the favourite of the em- 
peror. Such was the honour conferred on Plauti- 
anus. But what shall be done to the man whom the 
U 3 




43$ PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

King of kings delighteth to honour] To what dig- 
nity shall he not be raised 1 What unbounded plea- 
sure shall he not enjoy ] In this world all shall be 
rendered subservient to his interest, and in the world 
to come he shall be received with the acclamations of 
angels and the approbation of his God. 



December 24. 

Psalm cvii. 26, 27. They mount up to the heaven ; they go 
down again to the depths ; their soul is melted because of 
trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken 
man, and are at their wits end. 

On the morning of this day, 1811, the St. George 
of 98 guns, and the Defence of 74, were driven 
ashore near Cape Ryssentien. The crew of the former 
is said to have consisted of 850 men, and of the lat- 
ter of 550 men, not including the officers. Half an 
hour after the Defence had touched the ground, the 
whole went to pieces, and all the crew (excepting 
five seamen and one marine, who saved themselves by 
holding pieces of timber) were drowned. Captain 
Atkins reached the shore dead. The day after, in 
the afternoon, there were seen from the land some 
part of the cabin and poop of the St. George, upon 
which were standing many men. Part of the mast 
was cut away, and some men endeavoured to escape 
on it ; but it is conjectured that few have been 
saved, since the waves and the current, with the 
wind coming from N. N. W. would keep them off, 
before they reached the land. Some likewise attempt- 
ed to save themselves by a raft, but are said to have 
perished ; and when the accounts came away from 
Lemrig, intelligence had reached that place that the 
St. George had totally gone down, that only twelve 
men of the crew had been saved. The ship was up- 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 4:39 

ward of 300 fathoms from the land. Such are the 
awful catastrophes which sometimes take place. 
Happy are they, who when thus suddenly called 
away, are prepared to meet the Lord. 



December 25. 

1 Tim. iii. 16. God was manifest in the flesh. 
John i. 18. No man hath seen God at anytime, the only 
begotten of the Father he hath declared him. 

This day is kept in commemoration of the birth of 
Christ. " There are many weighty reasons/' observes 
the late Mr. Cecil, " why Christ should be prominent 
in our ministry. Christ cheers the prospect. Every 
thing connected with him has light and gladness 
thrown round it. God descending and dwelling with 
man is a truth so infinitely grand, that it must absorb 
all others — God seems in the doctrine of the cross 
to design the destruction of man's pride. But there 
is one reason that must ever be remembered. Out 
of Christ God is not intelligible, much less amiable. 
A sick woman said to me, " Sir, 1 have no notion of 
God. I can form no notion of him. You talk to me 
about him, but I cannot get a single idea that seems 
to contain any thing." But you know how to con- 
ceive of Jesus Christ as a man. God comes down to 
you in him, full of kindness and condescension. 
" Ah, Sir, that gives me something to lay hold on. 
There I can rest. I understand God in his Son." 
But if God is not intelligible out of Christ, much less 
is he amiable, though I ought to feel him so. He k 
an object of horror and aversion to me, corrupted as 
I am. I fear, 1 tremble, I hate, I rebel." 



U 4 



440 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 



December 26. 

Romans xii. 11. Not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, 
serving the Lord. 

Dr. Fothergill, an eminent Quaker physician, 
died this day, 1780. " I endeavour (says he, in a 
letter to one of his friends) to follow my business, 
because it is my duty rather than my interest ; the 
latter is inseparable from a just discharge of my 
duty ; but I have ever looked at the profits in the last 
place. At my first setting out, I wished most fervent- 
ly, and I endeavour after it still, to do my business 
with all the diligence I could, as a present duty, and 
to repress every rising idea of its consequences, 
knowing that there was a hand which could easily 
overthrow every pursuit of this kind, and baffle every 
attempt either to acquire wealth or fame/' His pub- 
lie benefactions, encouragement of science, and in- 
stances of his attention to the health, the police, and 
the convenience of the metropolis, are too nume- 
rous to specify here. 



December 27. 

Romans v. 10. For if, when we were enemies, we were re- 
. conciled to God by the death of bis Son, much more, being 
reconcile^, we shall be saved by his life. 

Thomas, Earl of Kinnowl, died 1807. A 
short time before his death, in a long and serious 
conversation with the Rev. Dr. Kemp of Edinburgh, 
he thus expressed himself: " I have always consider- 
ed the atonement to be characteristical of the gospel, 
as a system of religion : strip it of that doctrine, and 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 441 

you reduce it to a scheme of morality, excellent in- 
deed, and such as the world never saw ; but to man, 
in the present state of his faculties, absolutely im- 
practicable. The atonement of Christ, and the 
truths immediately connected with that fundamental 
principle, provide a remedy for all the wants and 
weaknesses of our nature. They who strive to re- 
move those precious doctrines from the word of 
God, do an irreparable injury to the grand and beau- 
tiful system of religion which it contains, as to the 
comforts and hopes of man. For my own part, I am 
now an old man, and have experienced the infirmities 
of advanced years. Of late, in the course of severe 
and dangerous illness, I have been repeatedly brought 
to the gates of death, My time in this world cannot 
new be long ; but with truth I can declare, that, in 
the midst of all my past afflictions, my heart was 
supported and comforted by a firm reliance upon the 
merits and atonement of my Saviour, and now in the 
prospect of entering upon an eternal world, this is 
the only foundation of my confidence and hope." 



December 28, 

Proverbs x*xi. SO. A woman that feareth the Lord she 
shall be praised. 

Queen Mary, eldest daughter of James II. and 
consoit of William III. died of the small pox at 
Kensington, 1694, in the 33d year of her age, and 
the 6th of her reign. In her, the arts lost a protec- 
tress, and the unfortunate a mother. Bishop Burnet 
says that she was a perfect pattern of conjugal love, 
chastity, and obedience. She had no relish for those 
indolent diversions which are the too common con- 
sumers of most people's time, and which makes a* 
- U 5 



442 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

great wastes on their minds. By her example it be- 
came as much a fashion among the ladies of quality 
to work, as it had been formerly to idle. She had 
read the best books in English, French, and Dutch, 
which were almost equally familiar to her ; but gave 
the most of her retired hours to the reading of the 
Scriptures, and books relating to them. King Wil- 
liam greatly lamented her death, declaring to Arch- 
bishop Tennison he could not but grieve, since be 
had lost a wife " who in seventeen years had not 
been guilty of one indiscretion." 

She said she thanked God she had always carried 
this in her mind, that nothing was to be left to the 
last ; she had nothing then to do but to look up to 
God, and submit to his will. It went further in- 
deed than submission ; for she seemed to desire 
death rather than life, and she continued to the last 
minute of her life in that calm and resigned state. 
She composed herself solemnly to die ; she slumbered 
sometimes, but said, she was not refreshed by it ; 
and said often, that nothing did her good but prayer. 
She was the most universally lamented princess, and 
deserved the best to be so, of any in our age or in 
our history. 



December 29. 

Daniel v. 10. But when bis heart was lifted up, and his 
mind hardened in pride— they took his glory from him. 

Thomas a Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, 
memorable only for his pride, insolence, and ingra- 
titude to Henry II. was murdered in the cathedral at 
Canterbury, 1171. The conspirators advancing to 
Becket here, and entering his apartment, they re- 
proached him very fiercely for the rashness and in- 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 443 

soleuce of his conduct; as if they had been willing 
to enjoy his terrors before they destroyed him. 
Becket, however, was not in the least terrified, but 
vindicated his actions with that zeal and resolution 
which nothing probably but the consciousness of his 
innocence could inspire. The conspirators felt 
the force of his replies, and were particularly en- 
raged at a charge of ingratitude, which he objected 
to three of them, who had been formerly retained in 
his service. During this alteration, the time ap- 
proached for Becket to assist at vespers, whither 
he went unguarded, the conspirators following, and 
preparing for their attempts. As soon as he had 
reached the altar, where it is just to think he as- 
pired at the glory of martyrdom, they all fell upon 
him, and having cloven his head with repeated 
blows, he dropped down before the altar of St. Be- 
nedict, which was besmeared with his blood and 
brains. 

The circumstances of the murder, the place where 
it was perpetrated, and the fortitude with which the 
prelate resigned himself to his fate, made a most sur- 
prising impression on the people. No sooner was 
his death known, than they rushed into the church 
to see the body ; and dipping their hands in his 
blood, crossed themselves with it as with that of a 
saint. The clergy, whose interest it was to have 
Becket considered as a saint, and perhaps who were 
real in their belief, did ail that lay in their power to 
magnify his sanctity, to e&tol the merits of his mar- 
tyrdom, and to hold him out as the fittest object of 
the veneration of the people. Their endeavours 
soon prevailed. Innumerable were the miracles 
said to be wrought at his tomb ; for when the peo- 
ple are brought to see a miracle, they generally find, 
or make one. It was not sufficient that his shrine 
had the power of restoring dead men to life; it re- 



444 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

stored also cows, dogs, and horses. It was reported, 
and believed, that he rose from his coffin before he 
was buried, to light the tapers designed for his fu- 
neral : nor was he remiss, when the funeral ceremony 
was over, in stretching forth his hands to give his be- 
nediction to the people. Thus Becket became a 
saint ; and the king was strongly suspected of pro- 
curing his assassination. 



December 30. 

Eccles. ii. 26. For God giveth to a man that is good in his 
sight, wisdom, and knowledge, and joy. 

The Honourable Robert Boyle died 1691. 
He was one of the greatest philosophers, as well as 
the best men that our own, or indeed any other na- 
tion has produced. He was the seventh son, and 
the fourteenth child of Richard earl of Cork, and 
born at Lismore in the province of Munster in Ire- 
land, January 25th, 1626-7. While he remained at 
Eaton, there were several very extraordinary acci- 
dents that befel him, of which he has given us an ac- 
count ; and three of which were very near proving 
fatal to him. The first was the sudden fall of the 
chamber where he was lodged when he was in bed ; 
when, besides the danger he run of being crushed to 
pieces, he had certainly been choaked by the dust 
during the time he lay under the rubbish, if he 
had not had presence of mind enough to have 
wrapped his head up in the sheet, which gave him 
the opportunity of breathing without hazard. A 
little after this, he had been crushed to pieces by a 
starting horse that rose up suddenly, and threw him* 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 445 

self backwards, if he had not happily disengaged hu 
feet from the stirrups, and cast himself from his back 
before he fell. A third accident proceeded from the 
carelessness of an apothecary's servant, who, by mis- 
taking the phials, brought him a strong vomit instead 
of a cooling julep. He departed this life in the G5th 
year of his age. He was buried in St. Martin's 
church in the Fields, Westminster, on the 7th of 
January following; and his funeral sermon was 
preached by Dr. Gilbert Burnet, bishop of Salis- 
bury. The bishop made choice upon this occasion 
of the text above selected. After explaining the 
meaning of the words, he applied the doctrine to the 
honourable person deceased; of whom he tells us, 
he was the better able to give a character, from the 
many happy hours he had spent in conversation with 
him, in the course of twenty-nine years. He gives 
a large account of Mr. Boyle's sincere and unaf- 
fected piety; and more especially of his zeal for the 
Christian religion, without having any narrow notions 
concerning it, or mistaking, as so many do, a bigotted 
heat in favour of a particular sect, for that zeal 
which is an ornament of a true Christian. He men- 
tions, as a proof this, his noble foundation for lec- 
tures in defence of the gospel against infidels of all 
sorts ; the effects of which have been so conspicuous 
in the many volumes of excellent discourses which 
have been published in consequence of that noble 
and pious foundation. He was at the charge of the 
translation and impression of the New Testament 
into the Malayan tongue, which he sent all over the 
East Indies. He gave a noble reward to him that 
translated Grotius's incomparable — " Of the Truth 
of the Christian Religion''— into Arabic; and was 
at the charge of a whole impression, which he took 
care should be dispersed in all the countries where 
that language was understood. He was resolved to 



446 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

have carried on the impression of the New Testa- 
ment in the Turkish language; but the company 
thought it became them to be the doers of it, and so 
suffered him only to give a large share towards it. 
He was at £700 charge ia tae edition of the Irish 
Bible, which he ordered to be distributed in Ire- 
land ; and he contributed liberally to the impression 
of the Welch Bible. He gave during his life £300 
to advance the design of propagating the Christian 
religion in America ; and as soon as he heard that 
the East India Company were entertaining proposi- 
tions for the like design in the East, he sent £100 
for a beginning, as an example, but intended to 
carry it much farther when it shouid be set on foot 
to purpose. In other respects, his charities were so 
bountiful and extensive, that they amounted; as this 
prelate tells us, from his own knowledge, to upwards 
of £1000 a-year. But as our limits will not allow us 
to follow the bishop in the copious and eloquent ac- 
count he has given of this great man's abilities, we 
must therefore be content with adding the short 
eulogium by the celebrated physician, philosopher, 
and chemist, Dr. Herman Boerhaave, who, after 
having declared Lord Bacon to be the father of ex- 
perimental philosophy, asserts that " Mr. Boyle, the 
ornament of his age and country, succeeded to the 
genius and inquiries of the great Chancellor Veru- 
lam. Which (says he) of ail Mr. Boyle's writings 
shall I recommend ] — All of them. To him we owe 
the secrets of fire, air, water, animals, vegetables, 
fossils: so that from his works may be deduced the 
whole system of natural knowledge." The reader, 
perhaps, may here be gratified to be informed that 
Mr. Boyle was born in the same year in which Lord 
Bacon died. 

What would not this honourable personage have 
hit and done, had he lived in the present day, when 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 477 

the great object he much desired is so rapidly ac- 
complishing ! How would he have rejoiced in know- 
ing that the Bible is circulating in almost all lan- 
guages under heaven ! 



December 31. 

Proverbs ii. 6. The Lord giveth wisdom, and out of hi* 
mouth cometh knowledge aad understanding; 

The great Dr. BaERHAAVE was born 1660. 
The above words afford the most abundant encou- 
ragement to supplicate the throne of grace for in- 
creasing light and understanding in divine things. 
Nor let it be thought enthusiastic for such a 
creature as man to place his dependence on Him 
who is the Fountain of light, and who giveth that 
wisdom which is profitable to direct. The Dr. 
thought it highly necessary to mingle prayer with 
his studies and literary exertions, and we know 
who hath said, " Men ought always to pray, and not 
to faint." 

One of the Reformers, if I mistake not, was en- 
gaged in a public disputation in defence of the Re- 
formation, and acquitted himself with great ap- 
plause. After the business was over, a friend begged 
to see the notes which he had been observed to 
write, supposing he had taken down the arguments 
of his opponent, and sketched the substance of his 
reply, but was greatly surprised to find he had only 
written the ejaculatory expressions, " More light, 
Lord — more light, more light !" Such a prayer 
we may well adopt, believing it shall not remain un- 
answered, for " to him that hath shall be given." 



448 PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 

We shall conclude the year with the following re- 
flections from Saurin. 

" What is our life of thirty, forty, or fourscore 
years, to the immense duration of eternity] How 
can we reconcile the part we act here with the wis- 
dom of Him who placed us here ; and if I may speak 
so, the bitterness of the w@rld with the grandeur of 
its inhabitants ? What destination do you assign 
man? — .what end do you attribute to his Creator! — - 
why did he place him in this world? — was it to 
make him happy? But what! can he be made 
happy among objects so very disproportional to his 
faculties? Are not his fortune and reputation, his 
health and his life, a prey to all human vicissitudes ? 
Was it to make him miserable? But how can this 
agree with the divine perfections, with that good- 
ness, liberality, and beneficence, which are essen- 
tial to God? Was it to enable him to cultivate 
arts and sciences ? But what relation is there be- 
tween an occupation so mean, and a creature so no- 
ble? Besides, would life then have been so short? 
Alas ? we hardly make any progress in arts and 
sciences, before they become useless to us ! — Before 
we have well passed out of infancy and novitiate, 
death puts a period to our projects, and takes away 
from us all the fruits of learning and labour. — Be- 
fore we have well learned languages, death con- 
demns us to eternal silence. — Before we well know 
the world, we are obliged to quit it ; and we die, 
when we are just learning to live. If the famous 
Theophrastus, at the age of one hundred and seven 
years regretted life, because he just then began to 
live wisely, what lamentations must other men make? 
W T hat then was the design of God in placing us 
here? — Was it that we should form and refine 
piety? But how can a* society, composed of crea- 
tures transient and imperfect, be considered as a 



PRACTICAL EXPOSITOR. 449 

real and substantial body of bliss? If it hath some 
solidity and reality when considered abstractly, yet 
what is it in itself? — what is il to you? — what is it 
to me? — what is to any individual member? — doth 
not one law reduce all to dust? 

" My brethren, there is only one way out of this 
labyrinth. One single answer is sufficient for 
all these questions — This world is a place of ex- 
ercise, this life is a time of trial, which is given 
that we choose either eternal happiness or endless 
misery." 



INDEX OF TEXTS. 



Chap. Verse. Page. 
Genesis. 



xviii 

XX 

xxiv 
xlvii 
xlix 
xlix 
xlix 
xlix 



16 

6 

13 

3 

5 

63 

3 

28,33 

10 

19 

18 



165 

30 

298 

71 

41 

184 

5i 

429 

164 

156 



m 

xvi 

viii 

viii 

xii 

xii 

xxv 

XXV 



Exodus. 

xvi 2 126 

xx 2 164 

Leviticus. 

xxv 14 128 

Numbers. 

xi 33 107 

xvii 12 33 

xxxii 23 159 

Deuteronomy. 



xxvi 
xxxi 
■ xxxii 
xxxii 
xxxiii 



7 
13 

6 
47 
19 

Joshua. 

xxiv 15 

Judges. 

i 7 

r 7 



128 
98 
54 
11 

237 

135 



238 

178 



Chap. Verse, Page, 
1 Samuel. 

26 352 

1 63 

18 424 

9 117 

62 129 

3 260 

24 363 

1 89 

33 146 



11 Samuel. 

25 



i 
xii 

XV 


^6 
14 
26 


xxiii 
xxiii 


5 

10 




1 Kings. 


viii 


62 


xviii 
xviii 
xxii 


4 
12 
1,2 




11 Kings 


V 

viii 
ix 


2,3 
13 

37 




1 Chron 


xxix 


26 



337 
242 
335 

89 
208 
170 



122 

390 
340 
338 



88 

74 

390 



11 Chron. 



xvn 

xxxiv 

xxxv 



17 

28 



372 



108 
322 
351 



Chap. Verse, Page 

Ezra. 
vni 18 

Nehemiah 
10 



XI I 

xiii 

xix 

xxiv 

xxi 

scxvi 

xxviii 

xxix 

xxx 

xxx 

xxxii 

xxxii 

xxxvi 

xxxvii 



17 
3 

Esther. 

9 

Job. 

3 
1 

12 
12 

18, 19 
15 

27 
22 
21 
7 
28 
19 



20,21 

8 



Psalms. 

10 
7 
2 

4 
2 



212 



149 
368 
241 



437 



133 

432 

242 

152 

203 

413 

66 

124 

16 

72 

55 

37 

251 

423 

417 

333 

5 

33 



29 

408 
433 
174 
300 



INDEX OF TEXTS. 



Chap. 

viii 

xv 

xvi 

xviii 

xviii 

xix 

xx 

xxiv 

XXV 
XXV 

xxvi 

XXX 

xxxi 

xxxi 

xxxvi 

xxxvii 

xxxvii 



Verse. 

3 

1,5 

6 

2 

7 

1 7 
7 
2 

19 
21 

3 

5 

5 
15 

4 

5 
37 



xxxvii 33,40 
xxxix 4 

11 



xxxix 

xlii 

xlix 

liv 

lv 

Ivi 

Iviii 

lxvi 

/xviii 

Ixxi 

lxxii 

lxxiv 

Ixxvi 

Ixxxii 

lxxxiv 

Ixxxviii 

lxxxix 

lxxxix 

lxxxix 

xc 

xc 

xc 

xciv 

civ 

civ 

civ 

cvi 

cvii 



5 

14 

7 

22 

3 

5 

13 

30 

4 

19 

20 

10 

3 

11 

6 

5 

45 

46 

6 

9 

10 

20 

19 

24 

26 

1, 10 

26,27 



Page. 

77 
314 
357 
228 
350 
1,293 
238 
286 
132 
386 
161 

77 
8 

27 
374 
118 
360 
374 
167 
177 
410 
123 
122 
299 
336 
247 

11 
127 
193 
136 
185 
148 
253 
249 

76 
176 
349 
157 
163 

28 

1 

131 

77 
405 
201 
214 
438 



cvii 

cxi 

cxix 

cxix 

cxix 

cxix 

exxi 

exxiv 

exxvi 

exxx 

exxxix 

cxli 

cxli»ii 

cxlv 

cxlv 

cxlv 

cxlvi 



Chap. Verse. Page. Chap. Verse. Page. 



25 
2 
9 

11 
117 

24 
5 
4 
3 
4 

14 
5 

10 
5 
9 

20 
4 



402 
131 
360 

55 
196 
346 
434 

31 
150 

34 
362 
137 
435 
130 
154 
175 

73 



xn 

xii 

xiii 

xiii 

xiii 

xv 

xvi 

xvi 

xvii 

xvii 

XX 
XX 

xxii 
xxii 
xxii 
xxiv 






Proverbs. 

32 

2 

6 
17 
18 
27 
17 
15 
19 
17 
20 
30 

8 
10 

5 

7 
22 

5 
12 

7 

14 
27 

9 
10 

1 

3 
26 
19 



119 
125 
447 
180 

56 
473 
147 
172 
269 
327 

27 
414 
105 

20 
114 
145 
296 

43 

83 
273 
169 
244 

80 
102 

53 
235 
313 

98 



XXIX 

xxix 

XXX 

xxxi 



7 
23 
16 
30 

EtCLES. 

18 

2 

11 

26 

18 

11 

6 

18 

10 

11 

7 

Isaiah. 



i 


15 


i 


17 


i 


18 


xiv 


16 


xix 


4 


xxvi 


4 


xxix 


6 


xxxii 


8 


xxxiv 


9 


xl 


6 


xli 


17 


xlii 


8 


xlix 


14 


liii 


4.5 


liv 


7 


Ivi 


1 


lx 


20 


lxvi 


23 


Jeremiah 


ii 


17 


xiii 


18 


XV 


16 


XX 


10 


xxxi 


9 


Ez 


EKIEL. 


vi 


13 


XXV 


IS 



INDEX OF TEXTS. 



?. Verse, j 


Page. 


Chap. 


Verse. 


Page. 


Chap 


, Verse, 


Page. 


ii 1G 


103 


vi 


22 


24 


iii 


3 


425 


9 


63 


vi 


26 


393 


V 


35 


242 






vii 


2 


92 


V 


39 


411 


Daniel. 




viii 


26 


181 


V 


40 


9 


21 


21 


ix 


2 


103 


vi 


27 


13 


18 58. 241 


X 


28 


264 


vi 


37 


418 


10 


442 


xi 


28 


4 


vi 


66 


306 


3 


436 


xi 


30 


187 


vii 


17 


2»7 






xiv 


6—11 


279 


viii 


44 


306 


Hosea» 




xiv 


23 


18 


ix 


34 


67 


12 

7 


63 

477 
128 


xv 


6 


69 


ix 


38 


270 


x x 


6 


111 


xi 


53 


302 


XX 


26 


215 


xiv 


2,3 


394 


xxii 


29 


213 


xiv 


27 


381 


Amos. 




xxii 


35 


345 


XV 


2 


256 






xxiv 


14 


179 


XV 


20 


272 


3, 6 


217 


xxv 


8 


364 


xviii 


36 


370 


9 


IS 


xxviii 


19 


319 


xx i 


16 


435 


4 


288 




Mark. 






Acts. 




Jonah. 

1 


98 


iv 
v 


24 

36 


61 
52 


V 

vii 


31 
59 


SO 
57 


MlCAH. 




v 
vii 


48 
21 


351 
162 


ix 
xi 


21 
24 


328 
62 


10 


344 


xvi 


15 


167 


xvi 


25 


171 


2 


307 


xv i 


20 


324 


xvi 


31 


244 


9 


392 




Luke. 




xvii 


11 


223 


Nahum. 






30 


85 


xviii 


13 


231 


5,6 


365 


ix 


77,78 
49,50 


342 
200 


xix 

XX 


20 
35 


63 
290 


Zech. 




ix 


54 


199 


xxi 


13 


90 


6 


179 


X 
X 


29 

42 


15 
13 


xxvi 
xxvii 


8 
18,20 


220 
334 


Malachi. 




xi 


26 


230 








16 


332 


xii 


43 


112 




Romans 




10 


84 


xiv 


27 


417 


i 


22 


35 


Matthew. 




xiv 


26 


268 


i 


29 


40 




xvii 


10 


103 v 


3 


355 


11 


7 


xix 


41,44 


286 v 


10 


440 


4 


379 


xxii 


30 


379v 


11 


248 


3 


430 


xxii 


35 


319 viii 


6 


42 


9 


59 


xxiii 


34 


198 viii 


13 


39 


10 


211 




John. 


viii 


31 


47 


44 


396 




viii 


35 


8 


9 


47 




18 


439 viii 


37 


10 


10 


91 


i 


50 


142 


xii 


3 


211 



INDEX OF TEXTS. 



Chap 


Verse, 


Page 


. Chap 


Verse, 


Page 


. Chap, Verse, 


Page, 


xii 


11 


441 


)iv 


29 


115 iv 


13 


254 


xii 


16 


13' 


Iv 


18 


217 iv 


17 


395 


xii 


IS 


11 


I vi 


16 


309 






xii 


19,41 


15$ 


*vi 


24 


109 


Hebrews 




xiii 


13 


16$ 


h 






iv 


12 


315 


xiv 


19 


40^ 


1 Philippians. 


ix 


27 


389 




1 Cor. 




i 


12 


204 x 


23 


239 






i 


21,22 


6s 


>x 


38 


416 


ii 


1,2 


341 


i 


23 


4£ 


jxii 


28,29 


225 


vii 
xiii 


35 
2 


17S 
407 


i 


27 
14 


60 
17 


James. 




xiii 


2 


434|iv 


5 


25 


« 


6 


26T 


XV 


10 


25 iv 


13 


345 


iv 


11 


269 


XV 


33 


277 






iv 


14 


14 








C 


0LOSSIANS. 


3 


276 


V 


2 Cor. 
4 


198 


ii 
iii 


8 

5 


233 
229 


jv 

V 


5 

12 


36 

48 


V 


15 


219 








V 


9 


89 


V 


20 


281 




I Thess. 




V 


11 


133 


vi 


4 


179 


i 


5 


226 




1 Peter. 




vii 
ix 
xi 
xii 


6 

8 

29 

9 


21© 

70 

192 

140 


ii 
iv 
v 

V 


12 
14 
13 
17 


53 

60 

307 

193 


iii 

V 


3 

7 

2 Peter. 


387 
239 


Galatians 


, 


V 


22 


277 


i 

i 


16 
23 


110 
41 

46 
317 


ii 
iii 
iv 
iv 


16 
6 
16 
18 


250 

426 

81 

320 


1 Timothy 

i 13 

i 15 

i 


292 
194 
330 


i 


1 J«OHN. 

7 
9 


vi 
vi 


9 
9, 10 


125 

382 


iii 
ii 


2 
16 


193 
439 1 


ii 

V 


23 
6 


380 

227 


vi 


14 


38] 


* 7, 


13,15 


271 I 


ST 


20 


50 


EPHESIANS 


1 


V 


8 


311 


Revelation. 


i 


8 


94 

376 i 


2 Timothy. 






.8,11 


358 


i 


13 




J2 


420 j 


rii 


2 
11 


318 
200 


V 


18 


309 i 


i 


3 


23; 


rv 


3 


44 


V 


1 


18 i 


ii 


15 


41b 


[vii 


13 


150 


V 


31 


205 i 


V 


2 


153 3 


tviii 


24 


354 


V 


3 


137 i 


V 


7 


203b 


cix 


2 


209 






INDEX* 






Abbot, Abp. died, 241. 

Abergavenny lost, 31. 

Adolphus, Gustavus, of Sweden, 
death of, 376. 

Adrian born, 23. 

Addison's Cato, 139. 

Athenagoras, conversion of, 2T0. 

Affliction, 414. 

Affections, use and abuse of, 28. 

Age, consideration of our, 53. 

Aglaus, felicity of, 5. 

Agrigentium, people of, 475. 

America discovered, 253. 

Alfred the Great, death of, 361. 

Alexander the Great, 53, 129, 
150. 

Alypius, fall of, 277. 

Amusement, places of, 139. 

Alva, D' Duke, 114. 

Anaxarchus, 159. 

Algerius, his love of Cato, 19. 

Allix, Dr. death of, 50. 

Anaxagoras, 120. 

Andreas, Rev. J. happinessof,7. 

Andrianus, conversion of, 316. 

Andrews, Bishop, learning and 
devotion of, 314. 

Annunck tioti, 90. 

Annihilation, 235. 

Anticipation of heaven, 51, S2. 

Afttisthenes, an admirer of So- 
crates, 5, saying of, 54, con- 
tempt of dress, 388. 
Antoninus, 135, 136. 
Anton ius,, 220. 
Anholt, GeorgePrioceof, death 

of, 346. 
Apostacy,297,396, 456. 
Aristotle, a great instructor, 5. 
Artibarzanes, request of, 297. 



Armada Spanish, 214. 
Ashburton, Lord, integrity of, 

253. 
Ascham, death of, 4. 
Ascension of Christ, 324. 
Askew, Ann, burnt, 211. 
Atheists, 221. 
Atonement, doctrine of the, 266, 

440. 
Augustus, esteem of, 77. 
Augustine, 277. 
Auxensius, piety and decision 

of, 58. 
Aygoland, anecdote of, 306. 

Balcher Admiral, lost, 334.* 

Bastile destroyed, 209, 

Bale, Bp. birth of, 398. 

Bates, Dr. his idea of the hea- 
then philosophers, 37. his 
death, 210, remark of, 236 c 

Barclay, Robert, his address to 
Charles II. 327. 

Bacon, J. died, 244. 

Basilides, conversion of, 317. 

Baxter, Richard, 382,416. 

Beattie,Dr. idea of the soul, 264* 

Becket, Thomas a, murder of 5 
442. 

Beaton, death of, 158. 

Bellingham, 147. 

Bellarmine, ignorance of, 80. 

Berkley, Bp. death of, 13. 

Benedict, St. 219. 

Bernard, St. 219. 

Beveridge, Bp. learning and 
piety of, 62. 

Beza, death of, 340. 

Bible, ignorance of, 137, use ofj 
341,449. 



INDEX. 



Bible Society, formation of, 63, 
137. 

Birth-day, 167; 

Bland, M, hanged, 102. 

Bligh, Captain, distress of, 126. 

Body wonderfully made, 394, 

Boerhaave, Dr. birth of, 447. 

Boleyne, Ann, 148. 

Bolton, Rev. Mr. death of, 429. 

Bolingbroke's testimony in fa- 
vour of Christianity, 85. 

Boniface murdered, 167. 

Bonar, Mr. and Mrs. murdered, 
162. 

Bonner, Bp. death of, 292. 

Booth, Abraham, death of, 27, 

Book, first printed, 254, multi- 
tude of, 255, religious, 256. 

Boston, Mr. death of, 149. 

Boyle, Hon. Robert, character 
and death of, 444. 

Bradford, John, martyred, 194. 

Brown, Rev. J. death of, 190. 

Bribery, 280. 

Bruce, James, death of, 124. 

Brainerd, D. death of, 335. 

Brute creation, 21. 

Brahe Tycho, death of, 343. 

Burr, Rev. J. died, 239. 

Buckingham, Duke of, 114. 

Bugenhagius, 118. 

Brutus, 38. 

Budgell, suicide of, 131. 

Bullinger born, 213. 

Buffon, 191. 

Burns, Robert, death of, 217. 

Bunyan, account of, 281. 

Burkitt, Rev. W. death of, 355. 

Caesar, Julius, landed in Briton, 
275, assassinated, 73. 

Caesar, Augustus, 267, 360. 

Caesarius, 309. 

Cadogan, Rev. W. private de- 
votion of, 17. 

Calisthenes, 119. 

Calvin, death of, 157. 

Camillas, 317. 



Caryl, death of, St. 
Coralstadt, 67. 
Cato killed himself, 35. 
Carracas, earthquake at, 86» 
Character, christian, dignity of, 

56. 
Charles I. beheaded, 29. 
Catharine 1. 146. 
Catharine II. 203. 
CharlesV. resigned hiscrown,15* 
Charles, Rev. Mr. imprisonment 

of, 18. 
Calcutta, Black Hole at, 181. 
Charnock, death of, 229. 
Chabrias, valour of, 809. 
Chartres, character of, 145. 
Charles XII. of Sweden, shot, 

459. 
Chatham, Earl of, promptness 

of, 146. 
Cecil , Rev.Mr.anecdotes of, 256. 
Charles II. death of, 36. 
Children, usefulness of, 94, 323, 

interesting, 318. 
Christ, divinity of, 50, birth of, 

460, death of, 102, ascension 

of, 324, love of, 458. 
Christ's Hospital, 367. 
Christianity, 90, 190. 
Christian, happiness of, 191. 
Chrysostom, preaching, 434. 
Cicero, birth of, 3, death of, 

209, 415. 
Clemency, divine, 287. 
Clitus, death of, 119. 
Columbus, 237. 
Comets, 293. 

Conder, Dr. saying of, 161. 
Consideration, power of, 432. 
Conversation, 122. 
Consciousness, 284. 
Contentment, 287. 
Cook, Captain, 175. 
Curvinus, forgetfiilness of, 79. 
Coverdale, Miles, death of, 149, 
Cowper, death of, 123. 
Cranmer, Abp. born, 196. 
Creation of the world, 307. 



INDEX. 



Cromwell, character of, 289. 
Curius Dentatus Marcus Annius, 

261. 
Crucifixion of Christ, 95. 
Cyprian, conversion of, 315. 
Cyrus, 77, 97. 

Danby, Mr. saying of, 397. 

Darius, 53. 

Darkness, extreme at noon, 

12. 
Darnley, Lord, murdered, 40. 
Deists, 251. 
Death, 64, 113,392. 

of Christ, 102. 

Defence, the, lost, 479. 

Democtares, insolence of, 43. 

De Mornay, 331. 

De Witt, 36&. 

Desertion, 130. 

Detraction, 289. 

Distraction, 183. 

Diogenes, 27. 

Disputation, evil of, 17, 308. 

Dionysius, 225. 

Dr. Dodd, executed, 191. 

Doddridge, Dr. death of, 358. 

Domestic religion, 143. 

Domitian, cruelty of, 306. 

Drunkenness, 218. 

Dr. Donne, death of, 91. 

Dress, 387. 

Druidism, 296. 

Dryden, 191. 

Dunning, J. See Ashburton t 

Duelling, 217. 

Duff, Missionary ship, 201. 

Duncan, Lord, 242. 

Earl of Kinnow!, Death of, 
^S2. 

Early piety, 340. 

Earthquakes, 92, 350. 

Edwards, Dr. Jonathan, treat- 
ment of, 81, meditation of, 
330, studies of, ib. 

Edware the Black Prince, 179. 

r .dward VI. piety of, 338. 



Egyptians,their account of time, 
1. their temples, 314, custom 
at their banquets, 424. 

Elpidophorus, apostacy of, 276. 

Elizabeth, Queen, pupil of As- 
cham, 5, born, 295, melan- 
choly death of, 318. 

Ennui, 6. 

English, Rev. T. death of, 159. 

Epaminondas, 90, 215, 403. 

Epicurus, 372. 

Epiphany, 7. 

Epictetus, 364. 

Erasmus, death of, 207. 

Erskine, Ebenezer, saying of, 
164. 

Erskine, H. providence con- 
cerning, 249. 

Erskine, Rev. R. death of, 376. 

Este, de Mary, 415. 

Eternity, 2, 490. 

Eugene, Prince, valour of, 108. 

Eadamidas, 208. 

Eudoxus, 120. 

Evans, Dr. 248. 

Eyre, Rev. John, death of, 88. 

Exaggeration, evil of, 289. 

Evelyn, epitaph of, 56. 

Expulsion of six students from 
Oxford, 71. 

Father, God a, 49. 

Faith, 257, 333. 

Family prayer, 143. 

Faust, Dr. 255. 

Fawkes, Guy, 407. 

Fear, Godly, 225. 

Fenar, Bp. martyred, 90. 

Fenelon, born, 244. 

Fire of London, 288. 

Flavel, Rev J. death of, 189, 

filial affection of, 319. 
Fleming, Rev. R. death of, 

210. 
Fox, J. death of, 116, relief of, 

ibid. 
Fox, G. death of, 386. 
Foster, Dr. James, remark of, 

aos. 



INDEX. 



Fothergill, D* death of, 440. 
France, Queen of, beheaded, 

375. 
Frank, Professor, liberality of, 

70. 
Francis, St. 219. 
Francis I. defeated, 53, death 

of, 60. 
French Revolution, 222* 
Frith, Mr. J. martyred, 198. 
Frederic the Great, death of, 

262. 

Galileo, discovery of, 9. 
Gataker, death of, 228. 
Gardiner, Col. 152. 
George 1. death of, 112. 
George III. 122, 16T, 35T. 
George, the St. lost, 438. 
Georgium Sidus, discovery of, 

76. 
Gericke, Mr. labours and death 

of, 324. 
Gibbon's testimony in favour of 

Christianity, 85. 
Gill, Dr. happy death of, 343. 
God a father, 49, goodness of, 

154. 
Gouge, Dr. died, 420, character 

of, ibid. 
Goldsmith, Oliver, peevishness 

of, 98. 
Goodwin, Dr. death of, 52. 
Gordon, Lord, 168. 
Gravity, 77. 

Granger, Rev. J. death of, 112. 
Granicus, battle of, 150. 
Gratianus, fall of, 151. 
Grenville, Lord, saying of, 344. 
Grey> Lady Jane, beheaded, 41. 
Grimshavv, death of, 105. 
Grosvenor, Dr. saying of, 101. 
Gunpowder plot, 374. 

Hale, Mr. death of, 362. 
Happiness, 191. 
Hall, Dr. death of, 113. 
Hall, Bp. filial affeetion of, 
396. 



Hamilton, Patrick, martyrdom 
of, 57. 

Hamilton, General, killed, 
205. 

Halyburton, quoted, 235, happy 
death of, 311. 

Han way, J. epitaph of, 251. 

Harmer, Rev. Mr. death of, 
403. 

Harvey, Rev. Samuel, death of, 
115. 

Hawkesworth, Dr. death and 
epitaph, 389. 

Hawes, Dr. death of, 414. 

Haymarket theatre, 15 persons 
killed at, 33. 

Heart, sacrifice of the, accep- 
table, 314. 

Henry IV. of France assassi- 
nated, 143. 

Heaven, a home, 394. 

Henry IV. and V. 63. 

Henry I. 362. 

Henrv II. crowned, 432. 

Henry VIII. 27, 156,370. 

Henry, Prince, piety of, 48. 

Henry, Rev. Matthew, 184. 

Henry, Rev. Philip, 187. 

Hervey, Mr. birth and piety of, 
55. 

Heathens, 236. 

Herschel, Dr. discovery of, 71. 

Hibernian, Society, formation 
of, 14. 

Hildersham, Rev. A. liberality 
of, 61. 

Hoadly, Bp. 404. 

Holt, Lord Chief Justice, in- 
tegrity of, 63. 

Hooper, Bp. martyred, 39. 

Home, heaven a, 394. 

Horace, birth of, 416. 

Home, Bp. death of, 16. 

Hottentots, the converted, ex- 
amination of, 370. 

Howard, Mr. philanthropy of, 
19. 

Howe, Mr. death of, 94. 

Hospinian, death of, 69. 



INDEX. 



Hubbard, Mr. sayings of, 208. 
Hughes, Rev. G. death of, 198. 
Huntingdon, Countess of, 178. 
Huss, J. Mr. martyred, 200. 

Jacomb, Dr. death of, 8T, 

Juggernaut, idol of, 186. 

James II, death and misery of, 
304. 

Janeway, Mr. James, death of, 
391. 

Identity, 285. 

Idleness, 234. 

Idolatry, 334. 

Jeffrey, a seaman left on a 
rock, 423. 

Jenkyn, Rev. W. imprison- 
ment of, 17. 

Jenyns, Soame, death of, 430. 

Jerusalem taken, 199 destruc- 
tion of, 285. 

Jessey, Rev. H. charity of, 201. 

Jewel, Bp. birth of, 153. 

Jerome, martyrdom of, 156. 

Infidel, 249. 

In go, the feast of, 380. 

Ingratitude, 57. 

Inquisition, 128. 

Job, patience of, 141. 

Johnson, Dr. death of, 423. 

John Baptist, beheaded, 300. 

John, King, conduct of, 150. 

Jones, Rev. W. 233. 

Jones, Edmund, characterof,92. 

Jones, Sir W. learn iug of, 115. 

Judges, Justice, 272. 

Julius Caesar landed in Bri- 
ton, 296. 

Julian the Apostate, 152, 190. 

Junius, conversion ef, 316. 

Kinnowl, Earl of, 482. 
Knowledge, human, variety 

of, 84, 444. 
Kn )X. preservation of, 399. 

Ladies, the Roman, dress of, 



Lawrence, the generous Lord 

Mayor, 107. 
Lavater, benevolence of, 2. 
La Lutere lost, 334. 
Leechman, Dr. his admiration 

of the Bible, 411. 
Leighton, Abp. advice of, 4. 
Leuctra, battle of, 203. 
Liberty, religious, 388. 
Liberality, 26, 392. 
Library at Red Cross Street, 

27. 
Life, human, 1, 499. 
Lima destroyed, 380. 
Linnaeus born, 131. 
Lisbon destroyed, 365, 
Lowth, Bp. 169. 
London, fire of, 309. 
Lord Mayor's feast, 380. 
Lous XVI. death of, 20. 
Lucan bled to death, 128. 
Luther, 47, 49, 67, 129,369, 

380. 
Lutine, La, frigate, lost, 362. 
Lycinius, 58. 
Lycurgus, 28. 
Lyttleton, Lord, observation 

on the Apostle Paul, 26. 

his faith, 270. 

Maclaine, Dr. death of, 49. 
Manton, Dr. death of, 347. 
Marshall, Mr. relief of, 52. 
Mather, Dr. C. 42, 59. 
Marv, Queen, death of the 

bloody, 390. 
Mary, Queen of William III. 

character of, 483. 
Marcellus, 127. 
Mahomet, death of, 179, 

flight of, 225. 
Me. Kill, sudden death of, 2S, 
Martinian, St. 219. 
Massacre, Irish, 354. 
Marlborough, Duke of, 177. 
Marathon, battle of, 318. 
Majesty, fallen, 453. 
Mason, Dr. oration of, 219. 



INDEX. 



Mason, W. death and saying 
of, 319. 

Marvel, A. integrity of 260. 

Maximilian II. conduct of, 146. 

Materialism, 283. 

Mede, Joseph, learning and 
death of, 322. 

Meditation, 195. 

Mead, Mr. saying of, 397. 

Melancthon, birth of, 44. 

Melmoth, death of, 72. 

Menecrates, pride of, 191. 

Milner, Rev. J. death of, 388 

Milton, birth of, 417. resig- 
nation of, 379. character 
of, 456. 

Ministry, the gospel, 452. 

Missionaries, 177,185,213. 

Missionary Society, formation 
of, 309, 372. 

Moderation, 26. 

Montague, Lady, death of, 269. 

Monasteries suppressed, 12. 

Monument, falls from, 189. 
inscription on, 310. 

Moon, account and use of, 77. 

Moravians, 181. 

Mortification, 219. 

Moulin, Du, Dr. death of, 6S, 

Murder, 171, 102. 

Murray, Earl of, shot, 22. 

Myconius, death of, 103. 

Myrtillus, shield of, 309. 

Nag as, his contempt of the 

world, 398. 
Nantz, Edict of, revocation 

of, 355. 
Nativity of Christ, 439. 
Nelson, Lord, death of, 351. 

funeral of, 9. 
Newbury, battle of, 307. 
Nero, 128, 348. 
Newton, Rev. J. anecdote of, 

435. 
Newnham, death of, 70. 
Newton, Sir Isaac, death of, 

79. 



Newton, Rev. J. remark of, 

332. 
Nonconformists, 293. 
Nosworthy, Mr. faith of, 393. 

(EeoLAMPADius, death of, 
408. 

Olding, Rev. J. death and cha- 
racter, 333. 

Owen, Dr. on mortification, 
234. his doubts removed, 
273. 

Overbury, Sir T. poisoned, 302. 

Parmenio, 53, 160. 

Park, Mungo, account of, 41 5 

Paul's conversion, 24. 

Paley, Dr. 154. 

Parisian massacre, 293. 

Paul, Emperor of Russia, died, 
83. 

Pascal, 219. 

Pagans, 236, 249. 

Patience, 134. 

Papists, 310. 

Paterculus, 63. 

Pavia, battle of, 53. 

Paul's St. cathedral, founda- 
tion of laid, 183. 

Persecution, 210, 272. 

Peace-makers, 62. 

Perceval, Mr. death of, 139. 

Perkins, Mr. providence on be- 
half of, 364. 

Persians, custom of, 122. 

Petrarch erowned, 105. 

Pearce, Bp. death of, 193. 

Pickett, Miss, burnt, 420. 

Philip'sadmiration of Aristotle, 
5. forbearance of, 43. treat- 
ment of Menecrates, 203. 

Phocion, integrity of, 262. 

Pitt, C. death of, 111. 

Pitt, Wm. Earl of Chatham, 
138. 

Plato, 236. 

Plautianus, dignity of, 478. 

Plague in London, 107* 



INDEX. 



Plessis, Lord, saying of, 381. 

Pleasure, 144, 180. 

Pliny, the Elder, diligence of, 
271. 

Planets, the, 76. 

Prayer, 135. 

Promotheus, 84. 

Poison tree, 30. 

Popilius, 1. 

Potamia, 316. 

Pott, Mr. death of, 477. 

Pope, the, expelled from Rome, 
44. 

Poverty of Spirit, 472. 

Popery, 73, "223. 

Potemkin, entertainment made 
by, 422. 

Porteus, Bp. death and charac- 
ter of, H2. 

Praise, 333. 

Prayer 193, 329, 

Pride, 202. 

Providences, 72. 

Prisoners for Christ, 19. 

Prejudice, 9, 201. 

Procrastination, evil of, 78. 

Prosperity, ruinous, 78, 126* 

Protestants, rise of, 124. 

Promotheus, 79. 

Quakers, yearly epistle of 

the, 420 
Queen Charlotte, loss of, 81. 
Quicke, Mr. happiness of, 18. 

R a ikes, Mr. institution of 

Sunday schools, 98. 
Rainbow, lunar, 298. 
Raleigh beheaded, 362. 
Ray, Rev. J. birth of, 405. 
Reader, Rev. T. anecdote of, 

369. 
Reproof well received, 46. 
Reformation in Germany, 309. 
Retirement, 174, 195. 
Revolution, the, 405. 
Reynolds, Bp. death of, 230. 
Revenge, 24. 



Revolution in France, 22£« 

Riches not happiness, 6. 

Richardson, Mr. saying of, 436» 

Riots, 178. 

Robertson, Dr. 173, 343. 

Robinson, Rev. T. funeral of, 
89. 

Rochester, Lord, confesssion of 5 
271. 

Romaine, Mr. death of, 226. 

Romans, conduct of, 343. 

Rosewell, Mr. death of, 48, re- 
proof by him to Lady Hun- 
gerfield, 46. 

Rosene, cruelty of, 193. 

Rowe, Mrs. 48. 

Royal George sunk, 288. 

Ryland, Rev. John, death of, 
2t3. 

Sadlers Wells, 18 persons 

killed at, 344. 
Sandys, Abp. death of, 204. 
Saurin; reflections of, 448* 
Savage, R. death of, 235. 
Shakespeare, 191. 
Scriptures, use of, 224, 341, 

449. 
Scougal, death of, 174. 
Short, Mr. death of, 176. 
Saunders, Mr. burnt, 38. 
Selden, death of, 407. 
Serpents charmed, 247. 
Servants, distress of, in the 

plague, 114. 
Severus died, 34. character of, 

126. 
Seleucus, the happy conqueror, 

344. 
Seneca, 434. 
Shield of faith, 215, 309. 
Shenstone, death of, 41, tender- 
ness of, ibid. 
Shipwrecks, 34. 
Shower, Mr. death of, 192. 
Sidmouth, Lord, his bill. 150, 

231. 
Simpson. Rev, D. died, 84. 



INDEX. 



Seipio, 55, 1ST. 

Sidney, Sir P. death of, 345. 

Slander, 289. 

Slave trade, 128, 344. 

Slave liberated, 392, 

Sloane, Sir Hans, collection of 
curiosities, 131. 

Snow, wse of, 33. 

Socrates, 30, 52, 236, 298. 

Solitude, 174. 

Some, Mr. death of, 390. 

Spartan Youth, firmness of, 
173. 

Spencer, Rev. Thomas, drown- 
ed, 242. 

Spilsbury, Mr. death of, 171. 

Staupicias, 219. 

Stars, multitude of, 175, 187. 

Stennet, Dr. Samuel, death of, 
294. 

Stennett, Rev. Joseph, anecdote 
of, 273. 

Stillingfleet, 68. 

Storm, the great, 402. 

Students expelled from Oxford, 
67. 

Sturm, Mr. 373. 

Suicides prevented, 149, 199. 

Sun, description of, 120, 175. 

Sunday Schools, 88, 99. 

Suwaroff, cruelty of, 147. 

Swartz, death of, 46. 

Swearing improper, 50. 

Sweep, happiness of one, 6. 

Swisset, abilities of, 79. 

£ymmons, Miss, poetry of, 163. 

Sweden, King of, 376. 

Taciturnity, 350. 
Tarpeia, treachery of, 332. 
Taylor, Dr. happiness of, 19, 

397. 
Taylor, Bp. quotations from, 

240, 434. 
Tallents, Rev. F. liberal spirit 

of, 109. 
Temple, Sir W. 174. 
Telescopes, 9, 176. 



Tenderness, 43. 
Thorowgood, Mr. 181. 
Thornhill, Sir James, 250. 
Tennent, Rev. W. conversation 

of, 65. 
Tetzel sells indulgences, 111. 
Themistocles admired, 20. 
Thornton, J. death of, 378. 
Thycydides, 127. 
Thomas's St. Hospital, 367. 
Tiberius, 74, 23S. 
Time, shortness of, 1. 
Tillotson, Abp. death of, 396. 
Timothv martyred, 21. 
Titus, 280. 

Toleration Act, new, 231. 
Toms, Mr. 181. 
Toplady, Rev. A. death of, 

250. 
Tournay, S. idiotcy of, 79. 
Tract Society, 136. 
Trajan, 134. 
Treachery, 332. 
Transit of Venus, 165. 
Tross, Rev. G. declaration of, 

11; 
Turner, Mr. saying of, 394. 
Tusculani, conduct of, 317. 
Twisse, Dr. death of, 215. 

Unity, 145. 
United Brethren, 181. 
Usefulness, 452, 437. 
Usher, Abp. death of, 80. 
Unbelief, evil of, 55. 
Valentinian II. death of, 144, 
Vanderkemp, Dr. death of, 425. 
Vaninus, 85. 

Venn, Rev. J. death of, 195. 
Venus, transit of, 165. 
Vergerio, conversion of, 328. 
Vespasian, death and character 

of, 301. 
Vesuvius, eruption of, 301, 
Vice, progressive, 79. 
Villiers, George, 114. 
Vinci da Leonardo, death of,6K 
Virgil, modesty of, 311. 



INDEX. 



Walker, Rev. S. death of, 
426. 

Warren, Rev. Mr. death of, 
175. 

War, 115, 127,318. 

Warburton, death of, 169. 

Ward expelled the House of 
Commons, 145. 

Washington, death of, 424. 

Waters, character of, 153. 

Watts, Dr. birth of, 212. death 
of, 399. 

Wesley, Rev. J. death of, 60. 

Whately, Mr. death of, 13T. 

White, H. K. death of, 349. 

Whitaker, Dr. death of, 413. 

Whitfield, 65, 320. 

Widows burnt, 187. 

Wicked, loathsome, 29. confes- 
sion of, 45. misery cf, 122. 

Wickliffe, 132. 

Williams, Dr. D. died, 25. 

Wills, Rev. T. death of 3 140, 



William II. shot, 23§. 
William the Conqueror charged 

with injustice, 297* 
William III. landed, 373. 
Willison, Mr. anecdote of, 299, 
Winter, Rev. C resignation of, 

10. 
Witsius, death and character 

of, 352. 
Wolsey, Cardinal, death of, 

404. 
Woodcock, Eliz. buried in the 

snow, 33. 
Wren, Sir C. treatment of, 54 
World created, 286. 

Xenocrates, 208, 261. 

Young, Dr. death of, !l& 

Zeuxis, 253. 

Zinzendorff, death of, 110, 
, Zuinglius killed 3 337 > 



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